The Star Forge Effect
by Llegion
Summary: Darth Revan leads the Sith Empire to a new galaxy, bringing with him the greatest space station in the galaxy. What will happen when the Council meets an Empire that refuses to bow to them, with the military strength to reduce them into so much dust? And how will their First Contact go, considering who the Empire is allied with? Rated T for HK-47, you meat-bags.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright, so I went back to fanfiction after a six-month break and absolutely** _ **could not**_ **write anything, which was unfortunate. But then I read some Alternate First Contact stories for Mass Effect and I thought, we should have more Star Wars crossovers with the Mass Effect universe. So that's what this is.**

 **A couple things first, this is from Knights of the Old Republic, so the Star Wars tech is going to evolve a bit over the course of the story, which will bring us up to the tech seen in the original trilogy. Mostly because** _ **I**_ **want to see the Turians going up against some AT-ATs.**

 **Secondly, and I don't understand why people automatically assume otherwise, but the Sith ARE NOT INHERENTLY EVIL. Yes, they enjoy holding power over others, and demonstrating said power, but they aren't just running around slicing and dicing for the hell of it. So don't go saying "Oh, your Sith are too nice!" They aren't, they're just willing to defend people that they are invested in. The closest anyone is getting to the Jedi is Bastila, but anyway… Read and Review and please tell me if you want something to be added. I'll try, I promise! Unless you want Jedi, in which case you're in the wrong place.**

 **Also, please don't hate me if I get things wrong. It's been a while since I've played either game, so I'm using wikis for knowledge. That's why I'm going with the size of the Star Forge that was "comparable to the Death Star." See my profile page for details.**

* * *

The Star Forge Effect

Hawke Anders, once again reborn as the Sith Lord Revan, stood at the head of the Sith army.

"My, my." He said, looking out at the legions spread out beneath him. "Malak was certainly busy, wasn't he?" Turning, he watched appreciatively as Bastila Shan emerged from the doorway behind him.

Bastila Shan was now clad in a dark grey, nearly black, skin-tight suit which highlighted her rather attractive figure. She walked up to Revan and slipped an arm around his, pressing herself close to his body.

"Well he _was_ planning to conquer the known universe, a large army usually helps with that, doesn't it?" Revan smiled behind his helmet, nodding his head in agreement with Bastila's sarcasm.

"Erm, Mr. Revan, sir?" came a small voice from behind them. As one, the two lovers turned to see Mission Vao, flanked on either side by Zaalbar and Canderous Ordo.

"Mission," Revan said, his smile widening behind his mask, "All that has changed between us is my name. None of this 'mister' stuff, you hear me?"

After his origins and alliances had been revealed, Mission had at first cried out against him and the Sith, painting them all as evil, stone-cold killers. Taris was brought up several times, but he pointed out that that was entirely Malak's doing, and with himself in charge, the destruction of an entire planet would never occur. Eventually, she agreed but would have no part in the fighting that would occur. Revan had agreed to her demands, and left her and Zaalbar to guard the Ebon Hawk while the rest had stormed the Star Forge.

Mission, though still nervous around a universally-recognized Sith Lord, nodded and some of her usual confidence filtered back into her voice and step.

"So, Revan, what do you plan to do now? Conquer the universe again?"

"No," He replied, "I think that it's time that the Sith have peace. I'll offer a ceasefire to the Republic. If they accept, well, we will open our borders and allow trade and prosperity to flow through our borders. We don't particularly _need_ to control the universe, and it would prove too costly to actually accomplish that, and I won't exactly see it done, so why bother?" The people around him all nodded, except Canderous.

"What do you mean, 'cease-fire?' There's no way anyone else will go for it! The Jedi least of all, if this even gets past your own ranks!" He cried.

"Don't worry, Canderous," Revan replied, amusement coloring his voice. "I doubt the Jedi will accept, and the Republic will almost certainly follow them. If they should turn down my generous proposal, I shall use the Star Forge's secondary function." That got him some strange looks from his friends, even HK-47 and T3-M4 managed to given him weird looks. T3-M4 spoke up first.

 _*beep beep whirr dwoooo*_

*I agree with the astromech.* HK stated in his typically angry voice. *Master, as far as anyone knows, there is no secondary function to the Star Forge. The Sith Archives only state that it eats stars and, from them, creates anything one can imagine.*

"I know." Revan said, "But it is so saturated with the Dark Side that it is almost sentient. The Force that dwells within it came to me in a dream, and showed me its secondary purpose, in case this system ever came under attack. But enough of that. Come, we have a government to contact and plans to follow."

* * *

3956 BBY – The Senate, under the influence of the Jedi Council, refuses Darth Revan's offer of a ceasefire. The Sith delegation is attacked, but escape when the four Sith Masters kill seven Jedi Knights and a Master before escaping in their craft. Their Interdictor-class cruiser takes minor damage while escaping the Jedi fleet.

* * *

"So, please explain to me how this is supposed to work again." Mission asked, gesturing to the holo-projector the companions were standing around. "I think I get that we're somehow going to travel to another galaxy, but I don't understand how."

"Well," Revan said, slightly annoyed that they weren't understanding. "Once the last transport from Korriban arrives, the entirety of the Sith Empire will have arrived in this system. Thanks to the Star Forge, the three gas giants in the system have enough flying cities to house everyone who could not fit on Lehon. Add to the fact that there are five habitable moons in this system, and we have enough room for everyone with room on Lehon and four of the moons for food. Anyway, once I activate the Forge, it will take in energy from the sun for twelve hours, create a Force shield around the entire system, then use the Force to move us to this new galaxy." He explained as the holo-projector demonstrated the predicted flight plan.

"Revan, how do we know that we'll survive? For all we know we'll go hurtling into a black hole!" Bastila said, snuggling into Revan's side.

"That's incredibly unlikely." Revan said, grinning and snaking his arm around Bastila to pull her tighter into his side. "The Star Forge has been doing the calculations for the last 25,000 years. We'll be just fine."

* * *

3955 BBY – the Republic army, led by several hundred Jedi Knights and dozens of Jedi Masters lead an all-out assault on the Lehon system, only to discover that it has disappeared, leaving behind a huge hole in the Force.

Meanwhile, the Sith Empire arrived in the new galaxy, and rapidly began to expand their borders in order to discover more food sources. More ship designs are found aboard the Star Forge. In an attempt to distance themselves from the Republic's influence, ship designs of the Rakata's Infinite Empire are updated with better weaponry, shields, and engines before being mass-produced by the Star Forge.

3950 BBY – The Sith Empire is spreading quickly, and with three additional systems under its control families, businesses, and organizations are emerging. While families were not uncommon before the end of the war, they were never prevalent.

The founding of Imperial Weaponry Inc. provokes some controversy. Darth Revan admits that he was hoping for peace, but will not deny the need for preparedness. The company designs several new tools for war, including the droideka, a battle droid that rolls to a position before unfurling and deploying an energy shield; Harrower-class dreadnaughts, 800 meters in length with a complement of 95 fighters, 32 bombers, and 35 shuttles; and the AT-AT, more popularly known as the "Imperial Walker."

3945 BBY – While not rare, habitable planets are becoming increasingly uncommon, which worries the Sith Empire, until plans are discovered within the Star Forge for terra-forming nano bots. The Star Forge produces several quadrillion in seconds and they are promptly flown to Desten, the fifth planet in the Rakata system. Within two months, signs of life begin to appear, and complete terra-forming is expected in a little less than four months.

In the newly discovered Shanxi system, the Sith Empire encounters its first lifeform in the new galaxy. Upon first contact, the race requests aid from the Empire. Darth Revan himself appears before their leader, interested in what the new race has to say. The new race's leader explains that, due to a strange alien artifact, the rest of the race has been forced into a war against a myriad of other races. A war which they cannot win. In exchange for the new race's undying loyalty, Revan agrees to destroy the artifact and free the race from the alien threat. The new race introduces itself as the Rachni.

 **A/N: HA! Bet you weren't expecting THAT! Everybody always has humanity meeting the Council races** _ **after**_ **the Rachni Wars, but what if the whole "do not use dormant relays ever" rule wasn't in effect yet. The Turians and humans wouldn't have fought against each other in the history of ever, and their first interstellar war would be** _ **with**_ **each other. They would be the best allies EVER! Just saying.**

 **Sorry for the short chapter, the idea just popped into my head and I wanted to** _ **get it out**_ **. Anyway, this is the result of some three hours of non-stop writing, so apologies for any mistakes the next chapter should be longer.**

 **PLEASE R &R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright, first off thanks for the number of reviews and followers! Hopefully I won't let you guys down on this one.**

 **Star Iron: Yeah, I started writing fanfiction in my senior year of high school, so needless to say I got distracted, and then couldn't write for those stories again. But now I'm staying up 'til 4 in the morning EVERY DAY! COLLEGE IS GREAT! This should actually make a full story, sorry.**

 **Kaioo: So my reasoning for the fewer habitable planets is actually the Reapers themselves. If they're going around waging war every 50,000 years, considering that the fighting is going to be centered around habitable planets, there should be less habitable planets every time. So the closer to the relay system, the fewer habitable planets. I don't know, it made sense at 3 in the morning.**

 **Cerjek: Yeah, last chapter was a result of 3 hours of work at midnight and no proof-reading. I make no apologies, but I do plan to spend more time on the rest of the story. I just** _ **had**_ **to get the damn story out of my head. It was driving me freaking CRAZY.**

 **J.E.P. 1996: I agree, that would be incredibly boring. However, I'm using the Star Forge to explain where the heck the Sith are getting their armies and ships. Otherwise I'd have to give them time to build factories and mines and so on. This way, if someone wants to know where the fleet of several hundred Star Destroyers came from, I can just say "Star Forge!" (that was an exaggeration on the numbers, but you get the idea)**

 **Also, I apologize for a mistake in my first chapter. I forgot that HK-47 declared his inflections at the beginnings of statements like the Elcor. This will be remedied from now on.**

 **I am also very hard-pressed to describe anything that I have not thought up on my own. I'm providing the names, so go Google the names of any ships you find if you want to know what they look like. Some are pretty cool.**

* * *

The Star Forge Effect

The Salarian outpost on Nepmos was not faring well, and that was disregarding the constant swarms of Rachni that threatened their existence every day. Their support ships had been destroyed with the arrival of the Rachni three days ago, and that last earthquake had completely wrecked what was left of the eastern-most wall, and the Rachni knew it. Their last swarm had almost completely overrun the camp, and if Citadel reinforcements didn't arrive soon, the planet could, no would, be lost.

"Dammit," General Charthane growled, slamming the supplies list down on the war table. Their heavy ammunition was all but non-existent, but would last forever due to a complete lack of heavy weapons. They didn't need to worry about food though, they'd be dead long before it went bad. In short, every report, plan, or idea he had resulted in the slaughter of his men. Unless the Hierarchy decided to send their one and only dreadnaught and its attendant fleet to rescue them, of course.

"Sir, they're coming again." His lieutenant, the only lieutenant left in the base in fact, was standing in the doorway, looking grim. They both knew they would not survive this wave. "Estimates are around ten-thousand." And that was that.

"Get the men to their posts." Charthane said, standing heavily. "How much time do we have?"

"Long-range sensors are down, so we've only just noticed them within the fifteen-minute mark."

"Then put me through to the troops." He said, walking slowly but surely to the comm station. Now that the time had come, it was up to him to make sure that they took down as many of those damned insects as they could.

He pressed the all-talk button, but before he could begin to talk, an alert came on the network, signaling an incoming message. Reacting with the speed of a desperate man, he slammed the speaker button, accidentally transmitting the message to every Salarian's comm set.

 _Bad news would be bad._ Charthane observed as he gazed down at the flashing all-talk button.

 _*Soothing: Attention meat bags. Prepare to receive temporary aid.*_

…

"What?" A Salarian manning a turret on the wall asked. Before anyone had time to reply, however, all hell broke loose.

The screaming of space fighters grew incredibly loud in mere seconds before dozens of wings of Mk-VI supremacy-class Sith starfighters escorting twenty-four full wings of Extinction-class bombers streaked by, unleashing literally hundreds of proton bombs, all but glassing the area underneath the oncoming Rachni swarm. As the fighters and bombers continued onwards and upwards, more ships appeared above the Salarian base, eventually appearing to be shuttles of some kind.

"Stand down!" Charthane shouted as he came out of his command structure, the only untouched building in the base. "If they wanted us dead, the bombers would have done."

Immediately, all Salarians who had weapons pointed at the shuttles lowered them, turning back around to keep watch for any Rachni who might have survived the bombing.

Aboard the KT-400 droid carriers, HK-47's voice echoed throughout the droids' BattleNet.

*Shout: Attention inferior models! Statement: Darth Revan has ordered us to join with the pathetic fleshlings on the surface of this world! Instructions: Your orders are to slaughter the insects on the planet and capture their queen for reprogramming! Unneeded killing of allies is strongly discouraged! Inspiring: For the Sith!*

Amidst the cheering of the Sentinel droids, the shuttle doors opened and troopers began to march as one from their six transports, which surrounded a single Y-85 Titan dropship, which was in the process of dropping off sixteen LM-432 Crab Droids. The Muckrakers quickly spread out and surrounded the base, scanning the surrounding area for any additional movement. Occasionally, one of them would turn and unleash a barrage of laser fire at a location before turning forward and standing as still as a statue. Meanwhile, the Sentinel droids moved among the Salarian troops and bolstered their defenses and began setting up their own turrets, much to the growing confusion and nervousness of the Salarians.

HK-47 approached the closest Salarian flanked by five Sith War Droid Mk-Is.

*Demand: Meat bag, where is your commander?*

The Salarian looked questioningly at rest of his battalion, searching for orders but unwilling to give away his commanding officer. Thankfully, he didn't have to answer as Charthane stepped forward.

"I am the commander." He stated, before walking towards the droids who mirrored his movement. However, while the droids stopped once they reached the general, Charthane continued walking and circled first HK-47, then his attendant droids. "Remarkable. Cannot be Citadel technology. Asari have nothing so advanced. No energy weapons in Citadel space. New species? Possible, more information needed…" He paused in front of HK-47, who had placed a metallic hand on the general's arm.

*Order: Stop moving, organic waste. Explanation: We were sent to help you remove the Rachni presence from this planet. The Sith Lord Revan has ordered that you cooperate with us to achieve our objective. Failure to comply will not be tolerated.* This statement immediately provoked several reactions, the most prominent of which was fear.

"Who are you to order us?" One Salarian demanded, taking up his shotgun and leveling it at HK-47. The assassin droid, however, was unimpressed.

*Repeat: Failure to comply will not be tolerated. Revision of Order: Give us tactical command of this unit, or die meat bag! Hopefully: Please open fire on me. I have not killed anything in a very long time. At least three days.*

When several of the Salarians began tightening their holds on their weapons, Charthane decided it was best to remind them of their position in this new "partnership."

"Of course we would be happy to aid you." He said, waving down his men. "But afterwards we will need to introduce you to the Citadel. I'm sure my people would love to thank you for our rescue."

*Of course, General Charthane.* HK-47 replied. Without a word, he turned and began walking towards the command structure. *Now we should discuss strategy inside, don't you agree?*

Charthane and his lieutenant quickly hurried after the blood-red droid, with his guard of MK-Is close behind. The Salarian troops left behind glanced anxiously at the surrounding Sentinels, feeling more trapped than ever before.

* * *

Charthane was rather… disturbed by the ruthlessness of his company's supposed rescuers. He tried several times to offer alternative plans to the droid's near-suicidal, albeit high-success probability, plans, but was often persuaded otherwise, usually by a simulated attack provided by the droid's "holo-projector." He was most definitely unhappy with his troops' duties, which were almost always sneaking into heavily-fortified positions to gather information.

*Sadly: I would send my own droids, but I was provided with only front-line troops for this engagement. Besides, your species is particularly well-suited for reconnaissance missions.*

Charthane gritted his teeth but remained silent for fear of the AI taking his army and leaving them to the "mercy" of the Rachni.

*Statement: Once your men have scoped out their defenses, my troops can move in and neutralize all resistance so that we may capture the queen.* _That_ got the general's attention.

"Capture a queen?!" He exclaimed, shooting to his feet. "You can't capture their queen! Not without killing every last one of her drones, and even then none of them have left their home world!"

*Statement: The Sith Empire has reliable intelligence that says that a queen is here. My orders are to capture the Queen and return her to Lehon, so that is what I will do.* With that, HK-47 stood and crossed the room. *I expect your scouting reports within twelve hours.*

When the assassin droid had left the room, Charthane turned back to his Lieutenant, indecision evident in his eyes. When asked for orders, Charthane sighed heavily before turning back to the holo-projector, which was showing scans of the tunnel systems.

"We follow the AI." He said, before indicating three points the droid had expressed interest in. "Send scouts to these three points. Tell them that if they get spotted, they'd better get out fast. We need that intel."

* * *

The Salarians, proving to be masters of stealth, were able to retrieve a more specific layout of the tunnels as well as troop placements and one of the teams had even reported seeing a queen! Now that the uneasiness of stealth had passed, General Charthane, and much of the troops, were far more at ease, as the AI commander had stated that his droids would take care of everything from now on.

*Questioningly: One last thing, General. What do you know of Project: Krogan?* Immediately, all the warmth and ease Charthane had been feeling vanished, to be replaced by a hole deep in his gut.

"I'm sorry, what?" He demanded, glancing around, idiotic though it was, to ensure that no Rachni were close enough to hear. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

*Statement: That is incorrect. I will repeat: What do you know of Project Krogan? Keep in mind that I will not ask again.* The droid's hand rested menacingly on the blaster magnetically locked on its back.

"Alright, alright!" General Charthane said, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. If the droid general knew about the Krogans, then anything that he knew the droid probably already did as well. "All I know is that the Citadel has decided to uplift an incredibly warlike species to fight the Rachni for them. They're incredibly powerful, have redundancies of pretty much everything, and can handle the toxic atmospheres of the worlds the Rachni seem to prefer."

HK-47 nodded his head, but kept his hand on his blaster.

*Statement: This we know. We also know that the project has already been completed.* Charthane's eyes widened in surprise. *But what we need to know is how many are being deployed? When will they begin large-scale deployment? Where will they be sent?* Charthane's eyes narrowed, this was all sensitive information he was asking for.

"Even if I _did_ know, I would never tell you." He said, surprising HK-47 with his vehemence, if that was possible. "That is only known by the commanders receiving Krogan, and that information is not meant to leave Citadel space. Now don't ask me again, or I'll be forced to inform high command that you attempted to gain sensitive information through improper means." HK-47 regarded the general for a few seconds before nodding.

*Acknowledged, meat bag.* In the blink of an eye, HK-47 drew his weapon and performed his primary function. Before the Salarian's corpse had even hit the ground, HK-47 had already registered that his shields did not offer any protection, meaning the last five shots to his face, heart, and groin had been completely unwarranted, and sent the information back to Lehon.

As HK-47 left the command structure, the Sentinels and Muckrakers were already loading onto the shuttles and lifting off. HK-47 hopped on the last remaining shuttle and acknowledged his "bodyguards." The Sith War Droids acknowledged him with a nod before curling up to save space. HK turned back to face the ruins of the Salarian outpost, his optical sensors taking note of the dead bodies scattered throughout the base.

*Mission Succesful.* HK-47 reported, opening a channel to Lehon High Command. *I have gained all information pertaining to Project: Krogan that the commanding officer knew. I have also received reports on how well our armor and weapons stacked up against Citadel technology. We have stripped the Salarian outpost of all technology for study and all evidence will be removed by orbital bombing. Moving on to secondary objective now.*

"Excellent work, HK." Darth Revan's voice came over the connection. "Canderous, Mission and Zaalbar have just finished liberating Damkianne and Altahe. Now we just need to contact the Citadel and inform them that the Rachni are under our protection. Then we can move on to freeing the remaining queens on Suen."

*Sarcastically: I know this already, Master. Is your fleshling brain, perhaps, failing? If you die, I would like to request complete control of the Empire.*

"Do I even want to know what you'd _do_ with an Empire?"

*Slaughter everything.*

"I figured. Sorry, it's just been a long day. I kept getting woken up to receive reports, so now I'm just sitting around in Central Command messing with the workers."

*Affirmative, Master. I will contact you again when I have completed my secondary objective.*

"Come back soon, HK. Revan out."

* * *

 **Codex:**

 **Sith Space Superiority**

 **Harrower-Class Dreadnaughts – the carriers of the Sith Armada, each Centurion could carry up to thirteen wings of seven Mk-VI Supremacy-Class Starfighters and eight wings of four Extinction-Class heavy bombers. Each Harrower was around 800 meters in length and could sport anything from turbolaser batteries to concussion missile launchers. In addition to the fighters, the Harrower could hold up to 7,300 droid troops comfortably. Unfortunately, organic troops required more space and it could only hold up to 6,000 for long tours.**

 **Centurion-Class Battlecruisers – these 1,200 meter ships focused more on space combat than their Harrower counterparts. With the capability of deploying up to fourteen wings of Mk-VI Supremacy-class Starfighters in minutes, in addition to the dozens of turbolaser batteries and quad laser cannons, the ship could mount an impressive offense and defense capable of holding off small battlegroups.**

 **Interdictor-Class Battlecruisers – while only 600 meters in length, the Interdictor was the backbone of the Sith Armada. With five medium turbolaser batteries, six point-defense laser batteries, three tractor beams, and four gravity well generator, the Interdictor sported the power of a much larger ship while remaining incredibly agile.**

 **Resurrection Ships (idea borrowed from Battlestar Galactica) – Created by Imperial Weaponry Inc.'s Droid Division, the Resurrection Ship is a four-kilometer behemoth dedicated entirely to the purpose of creating or maintaining anything outside of the Lehon System. Operating in the same way, though in a much smaller amount, as the Star Forge, the Resurrection Ship draws energy from a sun and, with the aid of the equivalent of thirty Sith Masters, creates material with which it can repair or re-create anything smaller than itself within a day, though the exact time is dependent on the item itself. It also acts as the communications relay of its fleet, capable of transmitting through any interference known to the Sith Empire.**

* * *

 ****Special Entry – Immortal Droids****

 **All droids contain a small relay that is used to communicate with a server contained on the nearest Resurrection Ship. Upon the unit's death, its memories are re-downloaded into a new body, whereupon it can re-equip itself and learn from its past mistakes before jumping back into the fight.**

* * *

 **Sith Military Forces**

 **Infantry – While very few of the infantry are actual Sith, most are at the least force-sensitive. Those that are not quickly learn that when the rest start running, you'd best follow. All are trained with standard blaster rifles and vibroblades, and are equipped with light to medium armor and energy shields and three thermal detonators each. Sith Masters rarely choose apprentices from hopefuls without at least three years of service.**

 **Droid Force – A Special Division of the Sith Military, the Droid Force is led by HK-47 and is capable of acting independently of any other military force. The standard Infantry unit is the Sentinel Android. In an attempt to diversify their creations, Imperial Weaponry Inc. created an AI called Deep Thought and had it come up with ideas. It quickly created the Sentinel Android and the "Muckraker", and since proclaiming that the Sentinel was as versatile as a human has only produced vehicle-size droids. HK-47 laughed at the Sentinels, but is cited as saying that it was "impressed with how they died. They make for great meat shields considering their complete lack of flesh."**

 **Sith Strike Teams – The Special Operations Units of the Sith Empire consists entirely of Sith Acolytes, usually led by their Sith Master. They have 100% efficiency against non-Jedi units.**

* * *

 **Significant Species of the Sith Empire**

 **The Sith Empire consists of all Sith in the galaxy prior to movement to the Milky Way. While most Sith were humans, there were not inconsiderable numbers of Twi'leks, Nautolans, Dathomirians, Zabraks, and surprisingly Wookies. Very few creatures were brought, however, due to space restrictions. However, several ships laden with food animals such as nerfs were brought along. It is also important to note that it was not only Sith who made the trip. Several Sith Masters made contact with non-force-sensitive species, such as Jawas or Kaminoans. One Sith Master even attempted to bring an entire zoo, but was stopped by an amused Darth Revan, who informed him to choose his favorite animal. All animals except the Rancor were quickly eaten.**

 **Important Notes on Some Species**

 **Wookies – Though originally used as an enslaved work force, Wookies became an emancipated species within the Sith Empire upon the birth of a Force-sensitive Wookie, Charkov. While he did not achieve any rank higher than Sith Marauder, Charkov was soon followed by several dozen reports of Force-sensitive Wookies.**

 **Jawas – Not knowing what the Sith Empire would find in the new galaxy, and assuming that it would end up having to be smashed to bits, Sith Lord Darth Malgus enlisted the aid of what are considered the best terrestrial scavengers in the galaxy: the Jawas. While the exact numbers are unknown, it is estimated that over thirty clans, each with their own Sand Crawler, were taken; some through less-than-reputable means.**

 **Kaminoans – Prior to Darth Revan's return, the Sith Empire had been attempting to influence the Kaminoans to provide the Empire with force-sensitive clones. Unfortunately, any clones made from existing Sith were entirely random in their force-sensitivity. As the Empire was preparing to leave, however, the Sith Master Scourge offered for the Kaminoans to accompany the Empire on their journey in exchange for their scientific knowledge. Approximately 30,000 Kaminoans agreed and accompanied the Sith to the new galaxy, where they were given a terra-formed Desten, and free reign of the Star Forge for twenty-four hours to create any machines that they might need. New Kamino is now the scientific capital of the Sith Empire.**

 **Mandalorians – Upon receiving the Mand'alor's mask from Revan, Canderous Ordo became the new Mand'alor, receiving the name "Mandalore the Preserver." He quickly and stealthily gathered the Mandalorian clans and led them to the Lehon System where they joined the Sith Empire in their Exodus. The Mandalorians have experienced a population boom and have received numerous immigrants since joining the Sith Empire and have grown exponentially in numbers. They received colonization rights on the first system taken by the Sith Empire, named the Evaar'la System, which consisted of three habitable planets, each with three to four moons. The Mandalorians, though heavily present in the Sith Military, are not confined to one or two divisions. A Mandalorian is present in every Sith ground force, from front-line troopers to artillery, with the exception of the Droid Forces and Sith Strike Forces.**

* * *

 **A/N: I'm looking for a beta, so if anyone would like to volunteer, please send me a PM or something. As always, R &R, and next time we're going to learn how the Citadel reacts to the Sith Empire.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: For the record, while the ships I'll be talking about will essentially be the Star Destroyers, I would like to make one rather important distinction. THE BRIDGE HAS BEEN MOVED. That tower thing is absolutely ridiculous. Hey, let's put all our commanding personnel in plain view of every missile, bomb, laser, and asteroid in the known cosmo. The tower is still there, but is now the Rec Room. They still want to keep the tower safe, it's just lower priority. The bridge is now at the very base of the tiers coming up from the aft portion of the ship's body.**

 **Also, about the Rachni, since they're a largely telepathic species, I was wondering about what would happen if the queen was, I don't know, Force-sensitive? And that got me to thinking about what a Force-using Rachni would look like when I realized something.** _ **The Rachni could be the greatest Force user ever.**_ **You'll see more later in the story, but tell me what you think about making the Rachni even MORE OP.**

 **Six Samurai: They very well might have moved a few, but if you remember, there's Prothean ruins freaking** _ **everywhere**_ **. So they had to have kept** _ **most**_ **of them in their original positions.**

 **Hornet07: I am aware that there are no Turians yet, and I don't believe I've mentioned any in the story, so I don't understand what the problem is. As for Darth Malgus, I understand that he is out of his time, but he's easily one of my favorite Sith in the extended universe. So, I brought him in as a Sith Master and gave him a job so that people wouldn't be surprised when he shows up later. I understand he had different ideals from the other Sith, but hey, it's fanfiction so I can do what I want. Besides, who said all would always be well in the Sith Empire? They're Sith for crying out loud, at least a hundred are going to want to usurp command of an entire freaking Empire.**

 **Deltanumber4: a schedule. LOL! (seriously though I'll try to update at least every week)**

 **Guest "they can't keep depending on the Star Forge": Oh yes, they CAN! Why? Cause who in the Milky Way is going to manage to take out the** _ **Star Forge**_ **? Yes, they will be starting large-scale industrial buildings for private or commercial use, but we're going to see most of the military coming from the Star Forge.**

 **Kaioo: I know the Star Forge is ridiculously OP as a factory, but I was just offering an example. The Sith don't have the numbers yet to field several hundred Star Destroyers at, what, 3-5 thousand crew per ship? That's outlandish when you factor in fighters and ground troops. Now, once we get the Rachni situated,** _ **then**_ **we can talk about huge crews on huge ships in huge fleets. (Imperium Ultra Class plus Sith plus Rachni anyone?)**

 **Guest "Meetra Surik?": No, if you remember, Meetra Surik returned to the Council and, while she was exiled, she's still closer to the Light than the Dark. The only reason she teamed up with Revan was because that was the best thing to do for the galaxy at that point. I believe that, in my universe, she would have fought him because he was a Sith Lord. She might try to persuade him back to the Light, but she would not have joined him.**

* * *

The Star Forge Effect

Darth Revan stood on the viewing platform on the Star Forge, his eyes closed and basking in the tremendous power swirling around the titanic ship factory. As he meditated, he reflected on his plans for the Citadel. On the one hand, conquering all of this galaxy would be good, but that could lead to consequences. Any sort of totalitarian rule would eventually crumble. Maybe not in his lifetime, but eventually, and he wanted to be remembered. After all, wasn't that why he left the old galaxy, where he was born and where the Sith began?

On the other hand, to exist _with_ other species was unbefitting of his Empire's status. The Sith were meant to be rulers, to conquer and rule and flourish. So if he couldn't rule over or beside the other races, and under was most certainly not a possibility, then from the shadows it was he reaffirmed for perhaps the hundredth time. Revan's eyes opened and he stood, his meditation at an end, at the same time another person entered the room.

 _My lord,_ The Rachni queen spoke through her worker which scuttled towards Revan.

"Hello Buir, it's good to see you." He spoke cordially, though they both knew that could change. "What news do you have for me?"

 _Lord Revan, I am pleased to inform you that your commanders have fulfilled their duties. Three more queens have been brought from under the influence of the Sour Song, and have joined me on Taxiode. As of now, all redeemable queens have been saved from the Sickly Song. We are beholden to you, and would now call you Master._ Revan closed his eyes, reveling in the pleasant song emanating from the worker in front of him. Hundreds of thousands of units all working together in the same song and providing harmony in the Force was an intoxicating feeling. He could understand why the Jedi wished for such an end, even if it was impossible. Opening his eyes again, Revan spoke.

"Excellent. As the Lord of the Sith, I accept your allegiance and invite you into the Sith Empire. Now as your first order, I would like each queen to begin Force training. I wish for each of you to be trained in the ways of the Sith, minus the lightsabers of course. I don't believe you could use those to their fullest potential given your… largesse.

"And remember, we will need to keep up the pretense of this war. We'll need to convince the Citdael that the Sith Empire is here as their friends, so none of your workers may be seen by the Citadel species. Should you ever be discovered, we will be forced once more into a war. We wouldn't want that, now, would we?" He said, his tone growing dangerously calm towards the end.

 _Of course not, Master Revan._ Buir replied through her servant. This had been discussed already, and though she prayed that her race might regain favor with the Citadel species, she knew that such would likely never happen. Her people had been bred for war, after all.

"Good. Now come, I would like for you to see the ship I will take to the Citadel." With that, Revan strode to the turbolift, the worker scuttling behind him. "Imperial Weaponry is quite happy with it. Since all they need to worry about is creativity as opposed to resources, this could very well be the most powerful ship that we know of. They call it the Intimidator. It's from a new class they're calling the Executor. Now granted, they skipped quite a few ship sizes to reach it, but they'll begin making smaller capital ships to minimize the size difference." The turbolift doors slid open, showing the hangar bay where the shuttle was waiting.

 _But my lord, is it wise to tip your hand so much?_ Buir asked, shuffling alongside the Sith Lord as they crossed the massive hangar. _If you show them such a ship, they might very well begin building ships to match it._

"But they will not." He said, as they boarded the ship. "Take us out." He called to the pilot as they sat down in the common room. "Their ships can only grow so big without becoming incredibly expensive. Their ships require exponentially more units of a specific element. Eezo, I believe they called it. Anyway, the largest they can feasibly create and maintain is about 1.3 kilometers. Any higher than that and they will bankrupt themselves trying to move it anywhere. They'd be better off building a space station than a two-kilometer dreadnaught. Needless to say," he explained as the new ship came into view. "The 19-kilometer Executor-class is a little outside of their range."

Revan would later _swear_ that he felt the disturbance in the Force as the queen devoted her _entire_ conscience to the massive dreadnaught hanging silently in the void. He could _feel_ the Rachni queen searching for words, yet coming up empty. Eventually, he received a delightful song, that all but _showed_ confusion, disbelief, and awe.

"I gave the team that created it a month of paid leave." He commented, watching the statuesque worker gaze out the window.

 _It is not enough, Lord Revan._

* * *

*Greetings, Darth Revan.* The protocol droid stated as Revan came down the ramp. As the shuttle departed, returning the Rachni worker to its place aboard the Star Forge. Revan smiled, glad to see that very little about the Rachni had changed from their corruption by the Dark energy that so thrived on the Star Forge. Each queen had or would send a worker aboard the ship, and while they were uncomfortable about it at first, all the queens which had sent workers on board had said that they _knew_ that they were in charge of their actions. They explained it more like being given information than being controlled. After all, that was all the Dark side needed. It opened eyes, not close them like the Light. Revan turned from his thoughts to realize the droid was still talking.

*-so we should be ready to leave in just a few minutes, my Lord.* Revan nodded, then ordered it to lead the way to the bridge. *Of course, Lord Revan.*

The droid led him to a turbolift shaft and the two ascended quickly, reaching the same level as the bridge in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, the trip lengthwise to the bridge was a different matter entirely. Even from the middle of the ship, the turbolift took several minutes to reach its destination, and that was not including the stops every 500 meters to load or unload passengers.

"When can we leave?" Revan demanded as he strode into the room, the protocol droid just behind him. He had become rather impatient waiting for the turbolift to reach its destination. Why were turbolifts never fast enough? Thankfully research had already begun to increase the speed of turbolifts by up to twenty times, making the 8 thousand meter journey a matter of thirty to sixty seconds depending on stops. He would never have to ride on a slow turbolift again!

"We've begun final checks sir, should only take us a few more minutes." The captain of the Intimidator said, vacating his chair to offer it to Darth Revan. Revan took the seat, then looked at the captain, technically admiral, technically Sith Lord.

While Darth Silthar had only recently attained the rank of Lord, he had captained one of the Harrower-class cruisers for the past decade, and was one of the best commanders in the Sith Armada. In war games he had managed to outsmart his opponents time and time again, and usually only lost when facing forces significantly larger than his own; due to his previous position he was rarely assigned to any group larger than his own Harrower and three Interdictors. Revan had chosen him personally to test out the first Executor-class Star Dreadnaught. He believed that, with Silthar's mind in command and Sith who had been trained to use Battle Meditation, this fleet could very well be invincible. For now, at least.

"Who will be escorting us?" Revan asked, resisting the urge to slump down in his seat, instead leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"We have seven Harrowers, thirteen Interdictors, three Centurions, and two Resurrection Ships with six Immobilizer 418's each, Lord Revan." Darth Silthar replied, before catching himself upon noticing Revan's raised eyebrow. "I mean, Revan."

"All Sith Lords are equal, Silthar, you know this." Revan said, amusement tinging his voice. "I may be in charge, but I am only a man, just like you." At the man's nod, he continued. "Now, have the battle groups returned yet?"

"Yes, my lord." Silthar said, looking down at his datapad. Revan rolled his eyes, but figured he'd let the man be, seeing as he'd only been a Lord for the past week. "Darth Shen, Mand'alore, Mission Vao, and Zaalbar have all boarded the ship and made themselves comfortable. I let them know the minute you reached the ship, and they should arrive momentarily."

"Very well, as soon as preparations are done, take us to hyperspace. I assume you know where we're going." He asked.

"Yes, L- Revan." Silthar said, catching himself once more.

"Good." Revan said as the blast doors opened, revealing his old companions. Mission had certainly grown well, Canderous was looking even more intimidating in full Mandalorian armor, and Bastila-

Revan grinned, eager to get the ship under way so that he might sooner get some time alone with his wife.

"It's good to see you too, _my lord_." Bastila said flirtingly, sending a rather inciting look at him. Revan grinned even wider, knowing that she felt the same way.

"Oh, for the love of- Get a room you two." Mission ordered, rolling her eyes at them. Zaalbar let out a yowl, agreeing with the young Twi'lek's sentiments.

"Technically, all this is mine, Mission." Revan reminded her, his grin widening behind his mask as he pulled Bastila onto his lap. "I could kick you off my ship whenever I want."

"Of course you could, Revan." Mission said, "but then you'd have to kick everyone else off. And then who would fly your giant hunk of metal? You?"

Revan frowned. He hadn't thought of that. Then he shrugged.

"I'll move it with the Force."

Though his companions were used to him and Bastila, though mainly him, performing astounding feats with the Force, they always managed to forget just how powerful it was.

"My l- Revan." Darth Silthar called as he approached from the bridge window, where he had been to give the companions some semblance of privacy. "We have completed our final preparations and will be leaving for the Citadel in a matter of moments. We should arrive in approximately thirteen hours."

"Excellent," Revan said, standing and offering the chair back to Silthar as he tossed Bastila over his shoulder, who laughed and promptly elbowed him in the back, causing him to stumble. Luckily, he managed to hold onto her and his equilibrium. "Take the chair, the captain should use it on his ship's maiden voyage. Inform me when we are ten minutes away." He called over his unoccupied shoulder as he exited the room.

"Er, my Lord, do you not wish to stay for the jump?"

"Seen it!"

* * *

Councilor Penezi T'neus of the Asari stood in the Council Chambers listening to the Salarian STG Commander, who was announcing the introduction of the Krogan. Dwarfing the Salarian was a Krogan, Urdnot Qegga stood at attention. Penezi sighed as she gazed at the marveling people. Yes, this was an important moment in the Citadel's history, but she had seen the Krogans before, and the abrasive, war-like species got rather old rather fast.

Oh, how she wished she could be off this platform and back enjoying the sun on Thessia. Instead she was expected to stay here and give speeches and smile and act like her feet were totally okay holding her up for over an hour. Seriously, was a seat too much to ask for?

"-and so, we would like to thank the Krogan for their help in the war effort. Urdnot Qegga, the Citadel is forever in your debt." Much applause followed the STG Commander's speech, bringing Penezi out of her thoughts. Honestly, weren't Salarians supposed to be short and concise?

"Yes, many thanks, Urdnot Qegga." Councilor Tiwip Madirn spoke from beside the Asari Councilor. "And may you and your people contribute greatly towards the galaxy." At least he was fast.

"Now we must be attending to the war," Penezi announced to the various news cameras and representatives. "If you would all please exc-"

 _*BWEEPBWEEPBWEEPBWEEP*_

Emergency lights began flashing all over the Council Chambers, bringing the Council Guard out from their positions by the door to the Private Council Chambers. They quickly surrounded the Councilors and herded them into the room, leaving the reporters and politicians to scream and run and wonder what was happening by themselves.

"What's going on?" Tiwip demanded. "Tell me everything you know at once." The guards, however, shrugged, having only reacted to the emergency lights and sounds. Penezi's and Tiwip's Omni-Tools began to beep and light up with requests to know what was going on, and they would have all been ignored except for one coming from the defense fleet.

"Councilors! This is the Thessia's Light! Unknown ships have entered the system, but they didn't use the Relays!"

 _Impossible!_ Penezi thought, while at the same time Tiwip thought _incredible!_

"By the Goddess! Councilors, one of the ships is- is **********************"

The feed cut out, replaced only by static nothingness. Penezi looked over to Tiwip, who was lost in thought, probably running through possible reason for what the ships were. Most likely would be-

"Rachni."

It was only a whisper, from one of the guards, but it was enough to silence the already quiet room.

"No." Tiwip said, his eyes coming back into focus. "Most likely an as-of-yet unidentified species. We know what the Rachni ships look like, and the Thessia's Light would have recognized them, even if they were dreadnought sized. Add to the fact that they did not use the Relay means that they would have had to have taken the long way, approximately three months. Too much time wasted if they truly intended to take the Citadel. Food supplies would run-" Tiwip was cut off before his eyes could completely lose their focus again.

"Then we shall try to contact them, and ask why they have not attempted to contact the Citadel through one of the worlds closer to them." Penezi stated, standing and marching towards the communication system by the far wall. As she reached it, though, a message appeared that stated that she had an incoming transmission. Thinking quickly, she reached out and accepted once Tiwip had joined her.

The hologram turned on, blue light shimmering as it gathered itself before it settled on a very Asari-like figure covered in a black robe with a hood. Where the face should be seen was only a mask: a mask which seemed to stare into the Councilors, inciting fear and Penezi found herself, shockingly, beginning to bow before remembering her place. Luckily she managed to stop herself before she could make a fool of herself.

"Hello, Councilors. I am Darth Revan."

* * *

 **A/N: As always, thanks for reading. Unfortunately this was another chapter finished at three o'clock in the morning, so please take some pity on me. Tell me how I did, good or bad, in a review, and tell me what you _want_ to happen in the next chapter. I do read all of them, but I tend to forget the ones that are only one-two words.**

 **Thanks to all who reviewed, please do so again. R &R&R&R&R&R&R&R PLZ!**

 **Expect the next update on Saturday or Sunday!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, a lot of positive feedback, some not so much, but overall very nice. There were a few points I would like to address first, however.**

 **Firstly: The Rachni**

 **Due to their status as a hive-minded race, I like to think of each worker being a relay for the consciousness of a queen. Get enough relays together and you can project the conscious further and receive clearer. You'll see later that they don't need to kill** _ **all**_ **workers on a planet to remove the Rachni. As long as a queen isn't** _ **on**_ **the planet, there could be a couple hundred useless hunks who don't know what to do due to lack of orders.**

 **Secondly: Midi-chlorians**

 **I would then like to turn everyone's attention to Star Wars canon, where someone's Force potential can be linked to their midi-chlorian count. Now that doesn't mean that the Rachni automatically have ridiculously OP Force powers, just the ones with a high force potential. Remember, it's the amount of midi-chlorians** _ **per cell**_ **, not per person. However, I** _ **am**_ **giving all Rachni high midi-chlorian counts to make up for the small number of queens, since each worker is really just a part of the queen's body. However, it's only enough to make them Siths, not enough to make them powerful.**

 **Also, to those who think that Revan should be "meaner." You forget that Revan was a player-controlled character in KOTOR. That means that this is** _ **my**_ **Revan. Basically, I'm taking my favorite parts of Jedi and Sith and putting them in one character. Besides, he has Sith and Jedi background, and was the only force user to gain complete control over** _ **both sides of the force**_ **. Therefore he** _ **has**_ **to have some Jedi qualities in himself.**

 **Brian 1972: Yes, they are using old-style ships. There are two Interdictor-class cruisers used in Star Wars. The ones used by the Sith in the Old Sith Wars and the ones used by the Imperial Navy. These differ greatly, so I recommend you check them out.**

 **Also, the way** _ **I**_ **see it, the only thing holding back science is resources. It takes a hell of a lot of resources to design, test, prototype, and build any starship. However, give those scientists a blank check and you can get warships decades ahead of their time. At least, that's my understanding. You'll also find that there will be a few problems with the fact that they designed a 19 kilometer ship with no prior experience.**

 **You must also remember that the Forge was originally built by the Rakate, tens of thousands of years before Revan found it. The Forge** _ **must**_ **have some way of updating its blueprints over time.**

 **Rc48177: Well, yes and no. On the one hand, they'd love to fight under a great warrior and leader. On the other, they'd get a** _ **huge**_ **kick out of fighting against such a person as well. Besides, I think that they'd have a better relationship with the Mandalorians than the Sith.**

 **And no, before anyone asks, there will not be any force-sensitive Krogan. That would just be the epitome of OP.**

 **PSG1JOHN: I don't quite understand where you're going with this review other than giving me well-known facts about the Imperial Era. However, I think you're wondering where the crew is coming from. Well here's my question: how the hell does the Star Forge protect itself once it runs out of people to crew its defense fleet? I'm taking a wild stab in the dark and saying automated ships coupled with droids programmed to man said ships. However, now that the Star Forge has access to the Rachni, we're going to see a lot of the defense fleet crewed by Rachni.**

 **Thorndsword: See above A/N about the Rachni and midi-chlorian counts**

 **Thorndsword (Guest): Because a good plan rarely survives contact with the enemy.**

 **Nazi Sumbitch: About emotions being unsith-like: the Sith ARE emotions, which is part of why they clash with the Jedi. I believe that the Sith were made over-evil because that makes for an excellent villain: some people just want to watch the galaxy burn. I believe that in real life the Sith would just be normal people with superpowers. If people hated them, they'd hate back; if people loved them they'd love them back. It all depends on the person.**

 **Ghostrid3r220: While a meaner Revan would be closer to historical Sith, that's not what I want to go for. Revan will be heading the greyer Sith, closer to my personal views of what the Sith should be. There will be a smaller minority of crueler Sith that we're used to later though. Also, Legends EU. The Sith** _ **are**_ **the Apex Race in this story, and their ships must be capable of containing their awesomeness.**

 **And please remember what I said earlier in chapter 3, Revan is trying to coexist with the other species because any totalitarian rule will eventually crumble. And he does plan to rule the galaxy, he just doesn't want to be open about it. Like Palpatine before his Coup.**

 **Star Iron: I would** _ **love**_ **for people to point out my mistakes! That's how I know what people are confused about and where I need to correct my mistakes. Speaking of mistakes:**

 **SHOUT OUT to hornet07 who pointed out that I accidentally called the Salarian Union the Hierarchy. I had started writing that chapter and was using Turians when I realized: "oh wait, THERE ARE NO TURIANS YET YOU MORON!" So yeah I went back and fixed stuff but apparently missed that. If it was a larger, more obvious mistake I'd go back and fix it, but it's not so I won't.**

 **Also, there's a Hierarchy down at the bottom for those interested. I'm going to be giving out titles and ranks here, so use that if you're curious.**

 **ONWARDS TO SLAUGHTERING er, I mean, FRIENDING THE CITADEL!**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Star Forge Effect

The shuttle carrying the single most important person in Sith space was a rather unimpressive thing. However, any who knew the Ebon Hawk would know not to underestimate it. The ship had served Revan well, and it was only fitting to begin his first true interaction with the new species on board his personal ship.

"I still think I would be the best person to go with you." Bastila complained over the comms system. "We should make more of an impression on these…" She searched for the right word, not too crude, not too nice. "others."

"And for the last time, Bastila." Revan replied, sitting in the co-pilots chair as one of the Sith Troopers ferried her emperor to the Citadel. "The Sith Priests on board need you to lead them in Battle Meditation in case things go wrong. Besides, I brought Scourge's squad as security. Do you really think sixteen Sith can't handle C-Sec?"

"I still don't like it." She grumbled. "It's not very Sith-like."

"Says the ex-Jedi."

"So are you!"

"With all due respect, Acolyte Shen," Scourge said over Revan's shoulder. "It is not the student's place to question the teacher." Revan grinned behind his mask, he could almost _hear_ Bastila grinding her teeth.

"What do you say to Master Scourge, Bastila?"

"Yes," She gritted out.

"Yes what?"

"Sir, we appear to have lost connection with the Intimidator. Would you like me to attempt to reconnect?" The Warrior asked from the pilot's seat.

"No, that's alright." Revan said, the amusement clear in his voice. "It'll get sorted out later."

"My lord, why do you insist on your wife being your apprentice? Would it not be better to have someone you have no connection with so you do not feel pain when you must kill them for trying to murder you?" Scourge asked from the seat directly behind his Emperor.

"For the same reason I told the other Lords, Scourge. I wish to see her potential fully realized, and I don't think that will happen under any other. Besides, she doesn't _have_ to kill me. It's only a tradition."

"You're hilarious, sir."

" _Ebon Hawk, please move along the designated flight path to your assigned hangar or you will be fired upon."_

"Hannah, would you care to explain why we're being threatened?" Scourge said, glaring at one of his Warriors.

"My apologies, Master Scourge, but Lord Revan ordered me to annoy them a bit on our way in." Hannah Shepard replied, glancing down at the navigational display. "They shouldn't be willing to shoot at us this close to the Citadel though, so we should be alright."

Scourged raised an eyebrow at Revan, who merely shrugged.

"The other Lords wanted me to just straight-up conquer them. I convinced them to rule from the shadows. We won't join them on the Citadel, but we should be enjoying some rather nice relations with them."

"Especially the blue ones!" Came a shout from the common area.

"You're hilarious, Tadius." Hannah called back, her voice laden with sarcasm.

"Aw, don't be like that, Hannah!" The now-named Tadius called back. "You'll always hold a special place in my heart!"

"And I'll remember you fondly after I gut you!" Hannah began to get up before she seemed to remember who was sitting right next to her. She turned slowly to look at the hidden visage of Lord Revan.

"No please, by all means," Revan said, even more amused than before. "Don't let me stop you. Should make for some decent entertainment." Hannah blushed a bright red before turning back to the controls and piloting the ship into the hangar given over to the diplomatic party. As soon as the ship was set down, she stood and all but fled to the common room for last-minute armor checks. Once she was gone, Scourge spoke.

"Revan, please stop scaring my troops."

"I can't help it." Revan said, standing and making his way out of the cockpit, Scourge right behind him. "It's too easy."

"Everything is ready, Revan. Now, let's get this show on the road." Mand'alor said as they entered. He stood in full armor in front of twenty Mandalorian warriors, all in full battle armor. Revan nodded, and the Mandalorians trooped down the ramp into full view of the Citadel. With speed and precision, they took up positions around the Hawk's perimeter, pushing back the more curious residents through sheer intimidation.

Following behind them were Canderous, Revan and Scourge, who were followed by Scourge's Sith Squad who fanned out behind them and stood at ease, their battle armor covered by their black robes in an effort to appear non-aggressive.

The delegation was quickly approached by a contingency of C-Sec officers led by four Council Guards, who marched shoulder to shoulder with their rifles resting on their shoulders. The C-Sec officers stopped a good twenty meters away, but the Council Guards came much closer. When they finally stopped, just a few feet away from Revan, they parted, making a hole between them for the Asari ambassador who had been hidden by her tall guards.

"Welcome aboard the Citadel, Ambassador, my name is Benezia." The Asari said, bowing to the delegation, and missing the twitch of Scourge's mouth at her error. "It is my honor to escort you to the Council Chambers, where the Councilors await your arrival." She waited for his nod before turning and leading the group towards the nearest elevator, which would take them to C-Sec HQ.

Half of Benezia's escort went with Revan, Scourge, and eight Siths on the first elevator, while Canderous and the rest waited for the next lift. The silence was terrifying for the young maiden who, unlike other Asari of her age, was doing work for the Council in hopes of one day becoming a Councilor herself. Unfortunately, that meant that she was closest to hand to greet the new race. She gulped.

"Is there anything you would like to ask, Ambassador?" She finally asked, if only to break the silence that flooded the small elevator.

"Only what your instructions were." He replied, amused at her continued use of the title of ambassador. There seemed to be some lack of communication between her and her higher ups. Benezia, however, assumed she had done something wrong. Maybe a forgotten greeting or such.

"The Council sent me to greet the Ambassador of the Sith Empire and his or her escort and escort them to the Council Chambers." She said, her mind racing for anything that she might have forgotten in her anxiety.

"I see." Revan said, growing even more amused at the discomfort of the woman before him. Finally, he decided to alleviate her concerns. "You've done nothing wrong, if that's why you're so anxious. I was merely curious as to why you were addressing me as ambassador."

Benezia, who had been feeling less nervous at the beginning of his sentence, felt her chest tighten again.

"I apologize for any slight I might have caused." She said, as the doors to the elevator opened and they emerged into C-Sec HQ, where a multitude of officers were waiting, standing at attention to greet the Sith delegation. "If you would prefer I use a different title, I would ask that you inform me of such a title."

"No, no, it's quite alright." Revan said, grinning behind his mask as he followed the escort across the open room to the next elevator. "I was merely curious."

"Thank you, sir."

The next elevator ride was as silent as the first, but less awkward now that the ice had been broken. After a few minutes, Revan began to grow annoyed again.

"How slow are your elevators?" He asked politely, expertly hiding his annoyance.

"I'm sorry?" Benezia asked, confused by the question.

"How long is this ride? It's a pet peeve of mine, standing still." He reiterated.

"Er, I'm not quite sure." She said, glancing around as if for inspiration. "The elevators have always gone this speed, and nobody has ever questioned it."

Though not entirely satisfied with her answer, Revan nodded once just as the door opened. He breathed a sigh of relief, only to be annoyed by the presence of another elevator not fifteen feet from the last.

"Apologies, Ambassador," Benezia said, "But this is the quickest way to the Tower without using a vehicle."

"Then why didn't we just take a vehicle?" He asked, growing more and more impatient.

"Because all vehicles on the Citadel can only fit up to five Asari, and we didn't know how large you would be." That might have raised an eyebrow had Revan not already known about the Elcor.

"Of course." was all he said.

Thankfully, this ride was only a minute or two before the doors opened and the group stepped out into the entrance hall of the Citadel Tower. The group stood in place and waited for the second half of the delegation, which appeared after five or six minutes. It was equally odd and amusing to see the obviously armed and armored C-Sec officers escorting the eight Sith warriors, unknowing of the danger they were dancing with in doing so.

"Now that your people are here, Ambassador, shall I take you to meet the Council?" Benezia asked, waiting on Revan's word.

"Of course," Revan said, "lead on."

The entourage walked across the hall and up the stairs to where the platform stretched out towards the Council.

"Councilors, it is good to see you again." Revan said, walking out on the platform before stopping at the very edge to look down. Disregarding the amazed looks that the Lord of the Sith Empire had come personally, Revan looked down at the sudden end of the platform.

"You know, you should put a railing here or something. Preferably before someone important falls off." Councilor Penezi raced to collect her thoughts, which were all of a sudden in disarray, before closing her mouth which had slightly opened at seeing Darth Revan.

"Welcome to the Citadel, Darth Revan." Penezi said formally.

"We are honored to have the Sith Emperor himself come to meet us." Tiwip said, examining every detail he could see of Revan now that he wasn't being shown through a hologram. He had the same mask and robe as before, and the mask was even more terrifying now that it wasn't being shown in all orange. Instead, the silver and red colors seemed to highlight the fear the mask induced.

"It is an honor to be here, Councilors." Revan said, playing the part of friendly envoy. "But please, just call me Revan. The Darth is for incredibly formal occasions, and I would hope that this is just a greeting between neighbors."

"Of course, Lord Revan, as you wish." Penezi said, much to the annoyance of Revan, who frowned behind his mask. "Now, as a sign of good faith we gave you information on our history and culture. Now I don't mean to be rude, but we are curious about your people's history."

"Oh, not much has happened really," Revan said, trying to move the conversation towards something more worthwhile. "Strove for knowledge, reached the stars, fought some wars, became united, and expanded to a few close systems. Now, I believe that we should talk about something more worthwhile, don't you?"

Penezi was taken aback by his obvious avoidance of the question, which only raised more questions than it answered.

"Lord Revan, I must insist. It would be best for relations if we had some copy of your species' history so that we might find some common ground."

Revan frowned. He had been hoping to avoid this topic. So of course it was the first thing that the Councilors brought up.

"Refusal to share information. Possible blemish on history. Genocide perhaps. Possible war with another species. Doesn't want to share in case we turn them away." Tiwip said, staring at Revan as though trying to see through his mask.

"I'm sorry?" Revan said, turning to stare at Tiwip. "What was that you said?"

"What Councilor Tiwip meant to say was that you might be in the middle of your own war, which you don't want to share in case it damaged relations." Penezi said hastily, trying to cover up her fellow's blunder.

"That was most certainly _not_ what he meant." Revan said, turning his unseen glare on the Asari. "He insinuated that we're like barbarians, come to join civilization. I can assure you, _councilor_ , that we are most certainly not barbarians." He growled, before taking a deep breath to calm himself. He continued, albeit in a more controlled manner, "I must also stress that the Sith Empire has no intention of joining your…" He searched for the right word, "collective. No matter the outcome of this meeting, we will be nothing more than neighbors. Friendly ones, I would hope, but neighbors nonetheless."

Penezi was shocked at his declaration, and rushed to fix the situation, but was unfortunately beaten to speak by her fellow councilor.

"High performance jamming technology and alternate form of FTL. Incompatibility between systems where yours is louder. You have no significant advantage. It would be best for your people if you joined the species of the Citadel. Otherwise-"

"Otherwise WHAT!?" Revan demanded, feeling the Force respond to his anger as objects around the Council Chambers began to shake. "You know _nothing_ about my people." He seethed, his hand twitching towards his lightsaber, which moved ever so slightly closer. "About my _Empire_. The Sith have existed for millennia, and we will continue to exist long after this Citadel has turned to scrap. After your _Council_ has fallen to pieces."

Various pieces of furniture, scarce as they were, along with objects scattered about the room began to slowly orbit around Revan. Scourge, who had been standing barely two meters behind Revan, retreated to the rest of the escort. This was the Lord of the Sith, whom he swore allegiance to. Not some pacifist, but a true Lord of the Dark Side. Canderous merely looked on. He had decided that whatever path Revan took, he would accept. That this path he was seeing unfold before him was closer to his personal choice was by no means the reason a smile was growing behind his mask.

The Council Guards, however, were not so amused. Instead, they began readying weapons which had been holstered or put at attention. Rifles and pistols and shotguns were pointed at Revan and his escort while more C-Sec troops were called into the hall.

"Please, Lord Revan," Penezi said, trying to calm the furious Emperor. She wouldn't admit it, but the biotic abilities he was displaying scared her. Not to mention the complete lack of any biotic aura. "The species of the Citadel want nothing more than peace-"

"PEACE IS A LIE!" Revan roared before chanting. "There is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall set me FREE!" He shouted as the furniture which had been orbiting him basted away, smashing into walls and against the reinforced glass behind the Councilors. The glass floor between Revan and the Council shattered, but didn't fall. Instead, it hung motionless in the air. Revan took a deep breath and sighed.

"I suppose I should thank you, councilors." He said, confusing the two. "I had thought that I had chosen the way that was best for my people, but you have reminded me of the basis of our Order. The Sith Empire will stand alone, and you will stand away from us or kneel before us. There is no other option." The glass shards rose like a wave and began to swirl around Revan, closer and faster than the furniture had.

"You will do no such thing!" Tiwip shouted. Anger, an emotion he had little experience with, began to course through his veins. It was strange, the anger was his, but it seemed too large to be completely his. But he would not recognize this until later, when his actions were irreversible and the damage done.

"You will not leave this station alive, and your people will join the Citadel under a more civilized race, such as mine!"

The glass exploded from Revan, all headed towards a single target. The small maelstrom of glass shredded the Salarian councilor's skin, and if not for his shields he likely would have died.

"I declare your life forfeit, Salarian, and until reparations are made, the Sith Empire will kill all Citadel species on sight!" Revan declared. "Consider this your final warning, _council-_ "

Before he could finish speaking, a dozen Council Guards opened fire from the balconies while six more sprinted from the Council's room and dragged the councilors to safety.

Unfortunately for the guards on the balconies, they were facing Sith with projectile weapons. If they were energy, and there was only one Sith, they might have stood a chance, but as it was they were facing a Sith Lord, a Sith Master, and sixteen Sith Acolytes.

Every bullet that was fired missed, as though some invisible force was pushing them away from the Sith. Revan turned and fired a blast of Force Lightning from his fingertips at the guards on the left balcony, killing three. Scourge leapt from where he was next to Canderous to the top of the right-most balcony, where his lightsaber snapped to life and sliced through the nearest two guards. Canderous, by the time he brought his heavy repeater to bear, had nothing left to shoot. He glared at the Sith Acolytes.

"Aw hell," He said, turning and leading the way back down the stairs to the elevator, "I call dibs on the next guy that crosses our path. Damn Sith, fucking Force." He muttered.

"Scourge," Revan called as the group walked toward the elevator. "I don't suppose you'd like to explain why I felt so angry all of a sudden. I meditated before coming here, I should have been in complete control of my emotions." Scourge shook his head.

"I don't know, my lord." He replied honestly, "I will not deny that such a thought passed my mind, but I decided against it, knowing that you'd notice my presence in your mind."

"I should have, yes." Revan said thoughtfully as they all crowded in the elevator. "There's something wrong with this station. I don't know what it is, but it seems to be…"

"Angry." One Acolyte, Shepard as Revan remembered, spoke up. "It's angry, but it's muted, like it's asleep."

"You make it sound as though the station is alive." Another one spoke up.

"It is." Shepard, Revan, and Scourge all spoke at once.

Their chat was cut short, however, as the doors opened and the group charged out, throwing themselves on the C-Sec troops who had apparently been waiting for them.

All sound seemed to drain from the world as Revan immersed himself in the Force, becoming one with it, and allowing it to guide his movements as he danced through the C-Sec forces that swarmed the Presidium. He jumped and leapt and slashed in harmony with the other Sith. This was why he loved battle, he remembered. Why he so enjoyed the Mandalorian Wars, and the search for the Star Forge. This was the way a Sith should live: free and with his fellows.

They danced their way to the elevator and piled in. Revan, deciding that he no longer had to worry about breaking things, called to the Force and pushed down, forcing the elevator to go shooting downwards at easily three times its normal speed.

The elevator reached C-Sec HQ, and the Sith grew nervous, failing to sense any life forms beyond the doors. When they opened, Canderous shouted a joy-filled war cry and charged out, his heavy repeating blaster spitting out waves of energy, only to stop when no one returned fire.

"What the hell?" He asked, looking around at the deserted area. "Where are all the targets?" He demanded.

"Most likely being dispatched by your men." Scourge said, relaxing as he felt the battle being waged back at the hangar through the Force. It was just at the edge of his senses, so he really had to focus, but it was there. "Looks like we'll have an easy time of it."

"Well come on, then!" Canderous shouted, running to the opposing elevator. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we get to kill things!"

"Mandalorians." Scourge muttered.

Thankfully, the ride was short and the group arrived at the hangar bay just in time for Canderous to mow down the last three C-Sec who were taking cover behind crates with their backs to the elevators.

"So unsatisfying." He muttered as they jogged towards the Ebon Hawk where the Mandalorians waited behind temporary cover they had formed from nearby crates.

"Any casualties?" Canderous asked, glancing over his men.

"Not a one, sir." One of the soldiers, with yellow stripes on his shoulder, said. "I think Jenkins stubbed his toe, but that's about it, sir."

"And fuck you too, sir."

"Excellent," Revan declared as he strode up the ramp into the ship. "It's time for us to be getting back, then. Shepard, I believe you're the pilot."

"On it, sir." She said, following right behind him.

"What the hell is with all these 'sirs'?" Revan muttered to himself as he walked to the cockpit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **Codex:**

 **Sith Hierarchy**

 **Force Path: Force Sensitive - Adept - Devotee/Witch - Sith Acolyte - Sith Priest - Sith Master**

 **Duelist Path: Force Sensitive - Apprentice - Assassin/Marauder - Sith Acolyte - Sith Warrior - Sith Master**

 **The Force Path focuses on the use of the Force and utilizes higher-level force techniques.**

 **The Dueler Path focuses on extended training of the lightsaber and usually has more unique lightsabers.**

 **Sith Lords have earned the title of Darth and are given their Sith name. They have mastered both Paths of the dark-side and take on apprentices.**

 **Sith Masters have mastered only one of the Paths and do not deserve the title of Darth. However, they are still a force to be reckoned with and take on apprentices.**

 **Priests are high-level force users and can be found commanding Force Support Squads on starships.**

 **Warriors are commanders of Sith Squads, which are comprised of Assassins and Marauders depending on the purpose of the squad.**

 **Acolytes have achieved the ranks of Devotee or Witch AND Assassin or Marauder. They are capable of filling any position any of the lower ranks can fill, and are chosen by a Master or Lord to apprentice under. They then begin to specialize their path.**

 **Devotees are more focused on supporting others with their Force powers.**

 **Witches focus on attacking others with the Force.**

 **Assassins are quieter, swifter lightsaber wielders focused on dueling styles.**

 **Marauders are more focused on brawling styles for larger battles.**

 **Adepts and Apprentices have completed their first few years at the Academy and have chosen their path to Mastery.**

 **Force Sensitives have been found to be force-sensitive and are only just beginning their learning at the Academy.**

 **Sith Squads are each led by a Sith Master who commands four Warriors or Priests who in turn lead three lower Siths of their choice.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**

 **Blood enraged: Ah frikkity frak. Sorry. The worst part is I KNOW the damn code, I have the ability to look it up, it's saved on my computer, and I DIDN'T. WHY DIDN'T I EVEN CHECK!?**

 **Hornet07: I like to think that it's harder to notice a large, sleeping presence. It's faint but everywhere, so it seems like it's just the people of the Citadel. Also, you're right, I should be adding more detail. But it was eleven at night when I thought, "I've completely forgotten to update for the past few weeks… THEY'LL HATE ME!" So I just sat down and cranked out a chapter… not my best idea.**

 **Enji-benjy: I believe that the kinetic barriers for Councilors would be more geared towards protection from assassination than a normal soldier's. I think they'd be tuned to block any object moving above a particular speed, rather than just those form an ME gun.**

 **The Defenestrated Typewriter: I thought that that was what I was saying. Your robot wars idea is great, by the way. I don't think that they'll let just** _ **anyone**_ **design a ship, though. I think that they'd have to pass some sort of screening process. You know, prove that their design is feasible.**

 **AndreyKI: Heheheh, pretty much.**

 **Guest: The Jedi are incredibly hypocritical in the Old Republic. I mean, they peach peace and lead an army. 'No, we don't want to join your war.' 'There may be Sith involved.' 'Let me at 'em!' And if you remember Obi-Wan at the end of episode III, "Only the Sith deal in absolutes!" Overall, not a very good Order. They distrust Sith for the sole reason of "they're Sith."**

 **Star Iron: We'll see more of the different classes once we get into actual war zones. The Priests, Warriors, Acolytes, and other sub-divisions didn't really get much screen time because there's Mand'alor himself, Darth Revan, and a Sith Master. They tend to outshine any of the lower classes.**

 **God of Story's: If you read the A/Ns, you'll see that I plan on having grey Sith along with True Sith. No goody two-shoes Sith, and they'll all have their weaknesses in their emotions, but there will be some who don't particularly care for unnecessary wars.**

 **Fallen-Ryu and Eye of Sauron: Yes, I would love OCs. However, all OCs I use from other people will almost undoubtedly be modified. Ryu, your person sounds hilarious, but I've already planned a ship for Shepard, so your backstory won't work. However, I will happily use Razgard in other capacities, like replacing Alenko or someone I** _ **never used**_ **. Admit it, we all had, like, three people we ignored unless we needed someone to die. And everyone else interested in submitting an OC, please remember we need people** _ **other**_ **than Sith Lords. Maybe some Witches or Marauders or something. Yes, there will be several Sith Lords, but because of the criteria one has to meet to become a Lord, there will be few of them. Sith Masters are much more common.**

 **Straider: Yes, Revan becomes a leader/general later in his life according to canon EU, however, in** _ **my**_ **universe, he has not yet reached that point. He'll have some growing to do before he's really read to fill the position of general. And as for your point about noticing and resisting indoctrination, I have two things to say. Firstly, YOU GET A PRIZE! Yes, he** _ **should**_ **be noticing the fact that he's being influenced. However, the Intelligence is very very very very very very** _ **OLD**_ **. I'm almost certain that, at some point during a cycle, they came across a Force-Sensitive species or highly sensitive telepathic species. Therefore, I'm thinking that they've found some way to stealthily influence someone. Secondly, influencing someone telepathically basically means nudging their mind down a particular path of logic. A machine as old as the Intelligence would take its time and come up with logic that appears perfectly normal to Revan. However, that's just my opinion, and you could very well be right. But, my fiction, my rules. Apologies. (Also, why would you mean offense? Are you** _ **hoping**_ **that disagreeing will cause offense? Cause that doesn't make any sense. "He disagreed! Burn him!")**

 **Xivitai: I like it, so I'm using it. I was looking for ideas of a Sith Hierarchy, and I liked the look of this one and saw no reason to alter it. Bull**** or not, it's getting used.**

 **Tactus501st: Please remember back in chapter 2 when the Sith Empire attacked a few Council bases before they went to the Citadel. They obtained several copies of the Codex, and created their own translators before they headed to the Citadel. I just assumed that would be obvious.**

 **I am Miranda: Whoever has the thickest plot armor.**

 **Y: The remaining Rakata have been uplifted to a moderate standing in the Sith Empire. A bit more respected than the average citizen, because their ancestors created the Star Forge, but they've since lost the knowledge, so they're basically just another species in the Empire. As for Mass Effect's Earth… I HAVE PLANS!**

* * *

The Star Forge Effect

"I am well aware of the threat this fleet poses to your Citadel, that's one of the reasons Lord Revan brought it." Darth Silthar said from his command chair. The Asari's visage which was being displayed on the screen tightened in annoyance. "Nevertheless, I have my orders to deny you communication with the Citadel until I have been assured from our diplomatic party that talks have begun. Any deviation from this plan would be most… unpleasant for anybody involved."

The Asari on-screen continued to glare.

"I don't care what your orders are, you have begun what could be construed as an electronic attack against a Citadel ship! If this was not a first-contact scenario, I would have open fire on your fleet the minute we lost communication with the Citadel, and the rest of my fleet would undoubtedly follow suit."

"Undoubtedly," Silthar said, grinning a little at the outcome of such a decision. "and I must offer my congratulations on your fleet's calmness. Most of my own people would undoubtedly have opened fire once they noticed communications were disabled by an unknown fleet."

The Asari grinned with an obvious sense of superiority.

"My people are well-trained, and I have personally selected every captain under my command. Of course, my people also tend to think with our brains rather than our guns."

Darth Silthar nodded, his hand resting on the hilt of his lightsaber which remained attached to his belt. How he longed to truly test his new ship against this admiral's "brains."

He doubted her brains, or the rest of her ship, would survive a quarter salvo, never mind a full.

"At any rate, Admiral, the point stands. I have my orders, and will abide by them." He turned to press a button on his armrest, which opened a small screen just above the end of said armrest. "And would you look at that, my orders have changed. It would appear as though the talks are over and the diplomacy team has taken its leave of the Citadel."

"Then you can give us back our communications." The Asari Admiral demanded.

"That is correct, however I will wait until we have taken our leave of your system instead. It would appear your Councilors were quite rude to Lord Revan."

The Asari growled at this annoying alien.

"If they were rude, it was only because your _Lord_ deserved it." She sneered. "Councilor Penezi is one of the oldest Asari, and one of the most patient beings in the galaxy!"

"Be that as it may, this Councilor "Tiwip" was rather… rude concerning my people's beliefs. At any rate, there is not much you can do without starting a full-scale war now, is there?" Silthar stated, smiling widely at the screen. "Now, if you do not mind, my lord has just docked and we are required back at our capital." He nodded at the communications officer, who switched off the connection. He grinned widely at the map of the local space that awaited him. He gave the order and the fleet swiftly entered hyperspace in what appeared to be a completely random direction from where they entered, leaving a thoroughly confused, and soon to be angered defense fleet behind.

* * *

"I trust things went well, Revan?" Bastila greeted the publicly acknowledged Sith Emperor as he entered the bridge. "They certainly sounded interesting in the report."

"Well, I didn't get what I wanted, and I was influenced by the mind of the station, but other than that things went _very_ smoothly." He said sarcastically, shifting his helmet under his other arm to draw her in for a quick kiss.

Scourge, entering behind his Lord grinned hugely.

"It was certainly something. And now we don't have to worry about that staying on their good side and ruling from the shadows crap!" He said, the glare from Revan doing nothing to dampen his broad grin.

"So, what's our next move once we get back to the Lehon system?" Darth Silthar asked, joining the trio. "I do hope I actually get some experience fighting their fleets. I've only had simulations until now and, frankly, it's not much. I also _really_ want to try out the battle capabilities of the Intimidator. Between your standing rule of 'no killing planets' and no targets that fight back, I'm starting to wonder if this was just a deterrent."

"I was hoping for it to be, but it is rather likely that you will get your chance fairly soon." Revan replied, walking towards the viewing deck. "Our expansions have taken us too close to the Citadel. We are only three relay jumps from the Citadel, but thankfully they're long, so they will likely search closer to their capital before expanding their search area. At any rate, I hear that Project Kerberus will be concluded shortly."

"Kerberus, Lord?" Scourge asked, confused.

"Ah, yes, I knew I was forgetting something." Revan said, having reached the view ports and stood, gazing out into the mesmerizing view of hyperspace. "Scourge, I meant to bring you up to date on Imperial Weaponry's latest contribution to the Sith Empire. You recall the AI they created to design weapons, of course?"

"Of course."

"Well, about three years ago he was sent off to some remote system with a dozen Resurrection Ships, our only Rachni Master, and enough droids to conquer the Asari and Salarian home worlds at the same time."

Scourge stared at Revan in astonishment.

"I gave them use of the Star Forge for a day." He said, turning around to face the three. No, four. "Hello, Warrior Shepard, was it?"

"Yes, Lord Revan," the identified Warrior said, removing her helmet and holding it under her arm. "I was just coming to ask Master Scourge what we should do with the prisoner."

That raised a few eyebrows.

"I don't understand." Scourge said, trying to keep a straight face, though a snarl was quickly becoming apparent. "What prisoner?"

"The one Acolyte Tadius took, sir."

"You have _got_ to be shitting me." Scrouge snapped. "What was one of the first rules I laid out when we got this mission?"

"No prisoners, sir."

"Then why, in the _hells_ , does Acolyte Tadius have a Force-damned PRISONER!?"

"In his words, sir, 'I saw her, so I grabbed her.'" She replied with a completely straight face.

Revan almost burst out laughing at the face on Scourge. His face looked torn between resigned and ready to go on a rampage. It was a rather interesting combination.

"If I may barge in here," Revan said, "We do have a never-before-used brig. Take her there, and I'll come talk to her when I'm done here."

Shepard nodded, and began to walk away.

"And Shepard?" Scourge called out. She turned questioningly. "Have Tadius test out the brig as well. We want to see if it can hold an Acolyte."

She grinned widely, then walked away, now with a bit of a bounce in her step. Which the three males looked at appreciatively. Until one got smacked by his wife.

"Moving on," Revan said, trying to look anywhere but at his wife's you-know-what-you-did stare. "Where were we? Ah, yes, Project Kerberus. Deep Thought's directive was to meet three criteria. One, the creation of a fleet able to conquer a system within twenty-four hours, ground battles notwithstanding. Two, at least two new ship designs that are both different from what we normally see, as well as each other, and able to meet or beat a star destroyer. And finally, fortify the system to make it impenetrable to any outside force. Of course, we ensured that he understood that his impenetrable system was not to be included in his calculations for a fleet that could conquer a system in a day. That would be… unfortunate. We received a message from Deep Thought a few days before we left on this little cruise of ours. It said that it had completed its second two criteria and that it would finish with the first within a week. It said it would be returning tomorrow."

Scourge took a moment to process this information.

"So basically, an undefeatable army of droids capable of removing all space forces from a system within a day, and then capable of sieging the planets for as long as they like with the use of the Resurrection ships, all from the comfort of an impenetrable system." He grinned widely. "I like it."

"I thought you would." Revan said, turning back for one last look at the expanse of hyperspace. "Now if you would excuse me, I believe I should go greet our unexpected guest."

Revan turned and began to walk away from the viewports with Scourge and Bastila close behind him.

"And I must go have a… _talk_ with our dear Tadius." Scourge said.

"I must remain here to oversee our course. I'll come down once we've begun our second jump." Silthar said, returning to his command throne, er, chair.

"I'll come with." Bastila proclaimed, her hands behind her head. "I'm bored."

* * *

"I am an assistant to Councilor Penezi herself! I demand to be returned to the Citadel at once!" Benezia shouted at the blank gray walls which surrounded her. "Or at least someone to talk to so I might discuss my captivity!"

The wall in front of her shook a little before the middle section rotated ninety degrees, revealing Revan.

"So sorry about this, Benezia." He said apologetically. "I'm afraid one of our more… zealous Acolytes saw you as a potentially valuable prisoner and grabbed you. Unfortunately no one else noticed until we had already returned to our flagship, and I'm afraid we've already left Citadel space."

Benezia stood and glared at the blank mask of who she believed was the Ambassador of the Sith Empire.

"Ambassador, I trust you have a reasonable explanation as to why I am being held prisoner on-board one of your ships?"

"From what I've been told, one of the Acolytes of my security detachment ignored the order to take no prisoners. In his words, 'I saw her, so I grabbed her.'"

At Benezia's open mouth, he continued.

"He isn't exactly the most level-headed person I've met. But if it makes you feel any better, he's in the cell right next to you, being reprimanded by his commanding officer."

Benezia looked about to talk, but was stopped by his holding his hand in the air.

"And before you say anything, Benezia, you should know that I have ordered all Citadel citizens to be killed on sight."

Her mouth fell open again.

"I got a little… upset during the talks. Needless to say, your councilors didn't take too kindly to my insult and assault of them."

"I would not believe that a simple ambassador would have the power to do such a thing." Benezia said, having found her voice. "And I doubt that your Emperor would approve of you failing such high-level diplomatic talks."

Revan's eyebrow, unnoticed behind his mask, rose at that statement. Wasn't she paying attention during the talks?

"And why ever not? And for that matter, where were you during the talks?"

"I _was_ overseeing the preparation of rooms for you and your security team when I was called down to the hangar. Your ship's guards were beginning to act hostile towards the keepers."

Revan laughed.

"An unknown alien attempts to approach my personal ship and you're surprised that my guards reacted? What kind of guards does your government employ?" He continued to laugh.

"As amusing as you may find it, Ambassador," Benezia said over Revan's laughter, "my people tend to speak first before we shoot everything in sight." At that, Revan only shrugged.

"So do most of mine, unless they have orders to the contrary." Revan waved his hand. "But we digress. The fact is, you've been captured by my men and are currently aboard Darth Silthar's new flagship, the Intimidator. We have departed from the Widow System and are returning to the Lehon system. There, you will be given a method of contacting your government so that you may be appointed ambassador to the Sith Empire. After that, you will be taken to your room so that we may begin talks. Not as neighbors, as I offered your councilors, but as an Empire and your little collection of city-states.

"Now, if there are no further matters, I believe that I will be returning to my quarters, and you will remain down here for the next day or so. It shouldn't take us too long to return home. Now, if you require anything, please inform your guard."

With that, Revan stepped forward as the middle of the wall rotated once more, revealing-

"RACHNI!" Benezia screeched, falling over herself in her haste to get away from the worker coming through the doorway. A soft melody gently lapped against the edge of her mind, and she cried out again and threw her arms over her head. "Get it out!"

"I quite agree Sol'yc that was quite rude of her." Revan turned back, annoyed, to the cowering Asari maiden. "Oh, get up, it's not like she's going to eat you. Honestly, wise race indeed. What's wise about calling your jailor an 'it.'"

"Bu-bu-but that's a _Rachni_." Benezia cried.

"Yes," Revan said, as though talking to an infant, "And if you were to listen to her, you'd hear that she's quite put out by your incredible rudeness."

"Bu-bu-" Benezia continued to grasp for words while Revan groaned.

"Fine, if you won't introduce yourself, I will." He turned to the worker drone, who continued to look at Benezia. "Queen Sol'yc, this is Maiden Benezia, soon to be Ambassador for the Citadel Species." He turned back to Benezia, "Maiden Benezia, this is Queen Sol'yc, the first Rachni Queen to be born after the 'sour note.' Unlike the Rachni that the Citadel is currently fighting, I can assure you that all Rachni you encounter in Sith space will be fully sane. Now, if you two ladies will excuse me."

With that, Revan turned and walked out, leaving one very distraught Asari and one very patient Rachni behind.

* * *

"Honestly, Tiwip, if I didn't know you any better, I'd say you _intentionally_ _provoked_ Emperor Revan." Penezi ranted, pacing back and forth as the healers took care of the glass embedded in Tiwip's skin. "Goddess only knows how much worse things are going to get. We have no idea what their capabilities are, where they're from, or what they want as reparations! We're more than flying blind! We're flying without any Goddess-forsaken controls!"

"Can't explain it." Tiwip uttered, his mind distracted either by thought or drugs. Perhaps both. "Ambassador appeared; claimed himself Emperor. Talks began, and rage began to fill me. Hate of this person. Hate of this race. Hate of the fear. Why did I fear? Unknown? No, unknowns can be learned from. No reason to fear. Fear their fleet? Fleet information was unknown at the time. Why?"

"YOU TELL ME!" Penezi shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "I still have no idea how things got so bad. All I know is, one minute we're having nice, friendly talks, and next thing I know you're making demands of them to all but fall in line under Citadel rule! Goddess, we're lucky he didn't try to kill us with his weird, colorless biotics!"

A knock at the door and, after the exchange of passwords, one of the twenty-some Council Guards in the room opened the door to admit a C-Sec officer.

"Councilors, my name is Lieutenant Charthane." The Salarian said, approaching the two. "I've been sent to brief you on the situation."

"Charthane? Where have I heard that name before?" Penezi asked. "Ah yes, the Salarian General on Nepmos, I believe. Any relation?"

"Yes, ma'am," The officer said. "He's my uncle."

"Well, Nepmos was set to receive Krogan reinforcements a few days ago, so I believe he'll be returning within the week." Penezi said, smiling at the C-Sec officer. "Now, enough idle chatter, what do you have to tell us, Lieutenant?"

"Well, Councilors, nothing good I'm afraid. After your removal from the Council Chambers, the diplomatic team killed the guards in the room before retreating back to their ship. Total body count is at twelve Council Guards, and twenty-three C-Sec officers from the Ambassador and his team. Their ship guards killed the C-Sec officers sent to secure the shuttle. Another thirty-two were killed by them."

 _By the Goddess!_ Penezi thought, her stomach dropping straight to her feet. _How did they manage to kill that many? The ship guards I can understand, they were obviously well-armed, but those robed Sith?_

"That's not all ma'am, video surveillance shows no evidence of personal shields used by the security team, while the ship's guards each had their own personal shielding device. Evidence points to undetectable, higher-end shielding for the diplomatic party."

"What do you mean, undetectable?" Tiwip demanded from his hospital chair. "Of course it's detectable! If bullets are being stopped, there _must_ be a camera that shows when and how the bullets are being stopped!"

"Er, about that sir." Charthane said, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "We actually can't find any evidence that any of the bullets shot at the diplomatic party actually _hit_ a target."

…

"WHAT!?" The Councilors cried.

"We have several different programs running, as well as several people looking through the footage, but so far we're not seeing any evidence of any shots hitting the diplomatic party. On top of that, their weapons are-"

"Completely superior to ours, I'm starting to see a picture."

"Yes, sir." Charthane said, looking down at his report.

"Well, let's hear it. How much more powerful are they? We saw their invisible biotics, and we know that they have better shields, so what? Do they have guns that shoot as fast as a machine gun, with the power of a sniper in each shot? Or were they hiding rocket launchers under those cloaks?" Tiwip said angrily.

"Apparently, sir, all of the diplomatic party, except for the armored one, carried laser swords."

…

…

…

…

"You're shitting me."

"Unfortunately not, sir."

…

…

"FUCKING HELL!"

"By the Goddess." Penezi said, slumping back into her seat, "But how could they have killed so many with only swords? I can accept powerful shields that kept them from harm, but they couldn't have gotten close enough to use them, could they? Why was the body count so high?"

"I think you'd best see that for yourself, Councilor." Charthane said, turning on his omni-tool and opening a video file. "This is security footage of the diplomatic party fighting their way out, as well as the footage from the hangar."

The councilors watched as their troops were cut down by the incredibly, impossibly acrobatic Sith as well as the impeccably precise Mandalorians.

"By the Goddess." Penezi whispered, clutching at her chest as she watched the armored man with Revan mow down three unknowing guards before the video ended.

"And not one of them was even _wounded_." Tiwip growled out, but took a deep breath at the sharp look Penezi sent him. "I know, it's entirely my fault. Still, hopelessly outgunned. Outmatched. We need peace." He looked at Penezi before sighing. "I will see this through, then retire. On that, you have my word. Now please excuse me." He said, reaching over to draw the curtains around the bed closed. "I must sleep. Think of solutions. Gods have mercy."

Penezi stared quietly at the curtains which hid Tiwip from her before sighing and turning to look at Charthane, finally feeling the thousand years of life on her shoulders.

 _I feel so… small._ She thought, _Perhaps I should get some sleep as well._

"Thank you, Lieutenant." She said tiredly, "You may go now. And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I'M BACK, PEOPLES!**

 **Yes, yes, I know, you hate me. But on the bright side, I HAVE NO SCHOOL TOMORROW! My school is closed tomorrow cause of IMPENDING SNOWMAGEDDON so I'm gonna finish Bioshock 2 then probably WRITE MORE OF THIS! And not necessarily in that order. ;)**

 **ANYWHO, thanks for reading, please R &R, and I'll try to update weekly, but it's probably going to be more like every other week. Sorry.**

 **LONG LIVE THE SITH**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, I finished Bioshock Infinite and god damn, did that mess me up. I was too blown away by it to write for a while and, by the time I got around to it, I didn't have the motivation to write anything. So, I apologize. Ideally I'll be updating more often, but, well, I don't exactly have the best track record now, do I? Anywho…**

 **Also, I can't remember if I've said this already, but the timeline will be sped up compared to the original Mass Effect Universe. I want to hurry up and reach the first game's setting with my Sith Empire while still getting decent build-up. Also, there** _ **will be a couple things from other universes**_ **. I'll be taking ship designs from other universes if I think they're cool. We'll be seeing some ships from Battle Star Galactica Online later on, so if you're wondering what a Basestar or a Jormung is, google the image. (Codex has more info)**

 **REVIEWS!**

 **Kaioo: Yes, he was a strategist during the Mandalorian Wars, however, I don't think he ever had to go through a lot of diplomacy. Cause, you know, Mandalorians. Nonetheless, you're right, and I have no idea how I managed to forget about the Mandalorian Wars.**

 **I am, however, sticking by my theory on the Intelligence's abilities. I believe that, at** _ **some**_ **point during its life, the Reapers harvested Force-sensitive individuals. While they may not have been able to wield the Force, they would at least have had some connection to the Force. Remember, this is** _ **fanfiction**_ **, so if I want Force-sensitives in Mass Effect Universe, then I get to put them in.**

 **As to your point on True Balance, I hate balance. I hate perfection. These stagnate things, make them dull over time. "Without strife, the victory has no meaning. Without strife, one does not advance. Without strife, there is only stagnation." –Yuthura Ban. However, it's funny that you mention balance because Revan was seriously one of the** _ **only people in the freaking universe**_ **to reach that balance.**

 **Straider: Yes, I agree. Now that the Sith are aware that the station is sentient, they'll be very prepared and very able to resist the Intelligence's influence. However, sneak attacks get initiative and bonus to their attack (Darths 'n Droids, anyone?), so Revan, while ridiculously OP, can still be** _ **influenced**_ **by a sneak attack mind manipulation. Controlled? No way in hell, but** _ **influenced**_ **? Very much so.**

 **Guestnr1: Actually no, the basis for the Sith is on freedom. The Force shall set me free. The way I look at the Sith is that they want to be free from any who would try to control them. This is where Darth Bane's Rule of Two eventually came into play. One Sith would be free from all control, while the other would be under the master's control until the apprentice had gained enough power to be free. This also forced each Sith to be better than the last.**

 **Guest (concerning Cylon references): Read the author's notes in chapter two. I basically took the Resurrection Ships from BSG and gave them to the Sith. The droids are continuously updating to the BattleNet and, upon their death, get downloaded into a new body at a Resurrection Ship. NO ONE used such tech in Star Wars EU as far as I'm aware, but they most definitely had the capabilities.**

 **Guest (Would you kindly): PLEASE be a Bioshock reference.**

 **ONWARDS TO THE STORY! (Please note that I'm skipping ahead a bit here so that we can get closer to the events of Mass Effect. We should be there around chapters 8-10. Also, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I do** _ **very little**_ **proof-reading. I should also mention I do very little** _ **planning**_ **. These are 2 a.m. chapters that are conceived, written, and posted all at once. I apologize for all the things I forget, as well as the lack of reviewing/revising I do.)**

* * *

The Star Forge Effect

80 CE:

The Sith Empire makes contact with the Citadel and hostilities ensue. Upon returning to the Lehon system, Darth Revan meets with Deep Thought and names the military system Pandora. He then appoints Deep Thought as the commander of all forces in the Pandora system. Deep Thought continues its experiments to create better weapons, though it dabbles with other fields as well.

The army and navy created by Deep Thought are left in Pandora, though Defense Cubes, created by Deep Thought for planetary defense, are distributed to all major planets. Each standard Defense Cube is one cubic kilometer, but smaller versions down to a hundred cubic meters are deployed to smaller cities. All cities with populations over five million are required to have at least a half-kilometer Defense Cube. Most, however, agree to the full-sized, though it remains a closely guarded secret as to what exactly is inside of a Cube.

* * *

108 CE:

"Marauder Benezia, you have been summoned to the headmaster's office. Please follow me." The protocol droid said in its usual drone.

Benezia groaned and got up from her floor. She had finally managed to get away from the other students and enough time to meditate and this happens. By the goddess, this was getting old fast. Nevertheless, she brushed herself off and walked out her door and fell in step beside the droid.

Well, it could be worse, she supposed. They could all hate her for being a different species. She chuckled at that, remembering the, while neither blatant nor extreme, widespread racism that was so prevalent throughout Citadel space. Here, it seemed there was no such thing. Instead, you were judged solely on your power, though how you defined that power depended on the person measuring. For many students, that power was either in their lightsaber or their force abilities. Unfortunately for her, she had no attunement to the force, however her biotics could make up for that enough for her to be trained to use a lightsaber.

"Hey, Nezy, how's it going?" Her head snapped up at the greeting, her eyes landing on a young teen who was leaning beside the door to the headmaster's office. She smiled and, holding back a laugh, curtseyed towards him.

"Hello, Prince Vaner." As he let out a long groan, she finally let out a tinkling laugh.

"C'mon, Nezy. You know how much I hate that title." He said holding out his arms.

"I do," she said, drawing him into a hug, "but it's more fun to annoy you." She ruffled his hair as she peeked around the doorway into the headmaster's office. "So I take it from your presence your dad is here?"

"Yep, says he's got a surprise for you." Vaner said, knocking her hand off his head.

"I hope not. The last time he gave me a surprise I ended up in a canyon full of scaly Varrens."

"I seem to recall you got a lightsaber out of the deal, didn't you?"

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me that I couldn't make my own lightsaber, Vaner, I really appreciate that."

"Hey, everyone agrees that the kid was a moron for trying to kill a whole pack of akk dogs by himself. And at least his saber is somewhere it'll be of some use. You wouldn't be able to be a Marauder without it."

"You know as well as I that the only reason I'm even considered a Marauder is because of your father, right?"

Vaner shrugged, "Hey, the blue knock-off Force you use helped too, you know."

Benezia opened her mouth to reply when the door to the office opened and the protocol droid exited. Even before it spoke, she strolled in to find a fairly amusing, if not uncommon, scene.

Revan sat in the large, comfortable armchair behind the headmaster's desk with one leg draped over one of the chair's arms, while the headmaster himself sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Ah, Benezia, so good to see you again." Revan said, before nodding towards a seat. "Won't you join us?" She slid into the seat to the left of the headmaster.

"You don't normally come here yourself, master, usually you just send HK." Benezia said, glancing at the headmaster, who flinched at the mention of the homicidal droid. It'd come through before, and had deemed several students unworthy when they failed a drill. He then went on to out-duel all three at once. He then disposed of the previous headmaster and left, having never passed on the message he was sent with.

"Well I was taking a trip through the systems when we got word from our probes in Citadel space. You remember the… spat between the Krogans and the Council?" She nodded and he continued. "Nothing serious at first, but it's been escalating and just a few days ago the Krogans declared all-out war on the Citadel. I've come to ask you: what are your thoughts on the matter?" Benezia's eyes widened. The Council at war? Nothing good could come from that, and from what she'd heard before her kidnapping, this was not going to be an easy fight for the Council.

She'd been kept up to date on what was happening in Citadel space, though forbidden from returning. It was rather infuriating at times, but she was forced to admit that she largely preferred her time in Sith space. There was so much to learn, from the history of the Mandalorians to the magical, though everyone she'd spoken to swore otherwise, Force that was so prevalently used.

"I believe that, unless the Citadel gets help, and a lot of it, they're doomed." She said bluntly. "They're more concerned with keeping peace between the species and they don't have any kind of real army after they disbanded the one they made to fight the Rachni. And that army was supposed to be almost replaced by the Krogans before you solved their problems."

Revan nodded, thinking it over, before straightening up and facing her fully. He reached to his belt, and donned his ever-present mask. Benezia and the headmaster both straightened up instantly, recognizing that he was now speaking as Darth Revan, Lord of the Sith Empire.

"Maiden Benezia, as the foremost expert on the Citadel, its space and its contents, would it be beneficial to the Sith Empire stepping in and fixing its Krogan problem?"

Benezia knelt before her master and considered his question carefully. It could be a hard fight, even though their tech was far behind the Sith the Krogans were uplifted to outlast what had been considered an infinite force. If they managed to dig their heels in, the war could be incredibly taxing. However, the Sith's forces could probably route them easily. And if they didn't, the Citadel species may very well be eradicated.

"The Citadel species have nothing to offer in bounty except raw resources, and even those pale in comparison to what you can harvest with Deep Thought's harvesting droids. However, if done right you could come out with control of the Citadel and its species. However, in order for that to be profitable would require even more resources and troops to… maintain order and any opposition from the current government." She paused, some lingering attachment to her species perhaps, before continuing, "I cannot recommend aiding the Citadel's forces in this conflict."

Revan nodded, seeming to contemplate her words before replying. "Well, the other lords have already discussed this and have agreed that you're wrong and that we shall be dealing with the Krogans. We can strip some systems for resources with the harvesters, while others can be "overlooked" and monitored in case some of the races are unhappy with the change of leadership."

"I understand, master."

"Good." He removed his mask and replaced it on his belt before standing and moving around the desk, motioning for Benezia to stand and follow, the headmaster forgotten. "I am glad to see your loyalty to the Citadel has waned so."

"Yes, master, though the influence on my mind was deep, with the mind healers' help and the mind exercises I was taught here my mind was cleared a great deal." Whatever the station was, whatever its purpose, it seemed intent on keeping the will of whoever stepped on it loyal to the government that had its seat there. There was still no explanation as to why it treated Revan and the Sith with such hostility.

"Excellent. I'm headed back to the Lehon System to greet the Council. We'll discuss the direction of the Empire and how the Citadel species factor into it. Then I'll order them to war and we'll see how well those Krogan fight." He glanced over his shoulder at Benezia and grinned widely. "I'm interested in how well those MagnaGuards fight. He compared them to Sith Assassins in fighting ability, you know."

"Hello, father."

"Ah, Vaner, excellent. I had thought you'd go to watch the Acolytes practicing."

Vaner's head dropped and his voice turned sullen.

"Why bother? You know I can't use the Force. I don't even have that fake stuff Nezy uses. I'll never be a Sith."

Revan sighed before wrapping his son up into a hug.

"C'mon, Van, not being a Sith never killed anyone. Besides, if you want to learn how to fight, Uncle Canderous has offered to personally train you in any weapon you wish. He's even offered to let you drive heavy tanks or walkers until you're certified."

"I know, but-" Here Vaner paused, hestating. "It's just-"

"You want to follow in your father's footsteps." Benezia finished for him. Revan shot her a look, but she only shrugged. "What, you think he _doesn't_ look up to the father who shot the Sith Empire across the universe and into a new galaxy and Golden Age?"

"I want to be a healer."

Benezia and Revan, his mouth still open from his attempt to reply, snapped their heads around to shoot twin incredulous looks at Vaner.

"But, why?" Revan asked, seemingly stumped. "Canderous said you could drive a freaking TANK!"

"I know, but- I've seen Mom heal people from wounds that would normally be fatal. And, I know that that's only because of her Force training, but I want to be able to do that too."

Revan nodded, mulling things over in his head.

"Alright, I suppose your mothers not going to have anything against that. Tell you what, after this conference with the Council, I'll talk to the Kaminoans about an apprenticeship. They're a fair bit ahead on medicine and biology and the like. Study with them until you're a healer, but let Canderous at least teach you some light weaponry and hand-to-hand combat, alright?"

"Yes, father, thank you, father." Vaner said, bowing, relief clear in his voice.

"It's fine," Revan said, "I suppose I should be happy you're not trying to get onto the front lines when we're about to head into a war. Still, I'd prefer you to be able to defend yourself as best as you can should any… problems arise."

"Of course." Vaner said, still happy.

"Now, let's get going. I've a Council to see and a war to start. Join?"

"Win." Vaner and Benezia chorused.

* * *

The Star Forge, in the Lehon System

Three days later

"I'm not saying that they pose a threat to the Empire. I'm merely saying that we haven't finished securing our borders yet. We've only truly secured seventeen of the eighty surrounding systems. And only thirty-eight of the remaining sixty-three have listening posts. I can finish securing them within the year, but it would require at least tripling my current time allotment of the Star Forge, which-"

"Would not be feasible under the plans for a full-scale war effort." Silthar completed, nodding towards Marr, who nodded back. "Even with the Droid Force, the current war doctrine, passed by this Council a mere twenty-five years ago, expressly requires the complete defense of our worlds for the next twenty-five, or until-"

"We don't need a complete review of our war doctrine, Silthar." Jadus said irritably. "We were all there when we made it, with the exception of Lord Grievous here."

Grievous nodded, bringing his top, organic pair of arms up to clasp them on the tabletop. His modulated voice echoed out of his chest, while his eyes, one of the few parts of him that was still completely untouched by experimentation, darted between the Lords.

"I'm more than aware of my position here, Jadus, and I am also aware that no plan survives contact with the enemy." His lower, robotic arms raised above the table level, showing what he had been working on – two datapads, one with a map of the surrounding systems and the other filled with scrolling text and numbers. "Should we alter the doctrine to allow for monitoring of nearby systems with several reactionary fleets on standby in the outlying systems, we can postpone the true securing of the systems until we have finished solving the natives'… squabble."

"But it would still take-" Vowrawn began but was cut off almost immediately.

"The fleets currently in station around Pandora alone can monitor and react to over half of the unsecured systems at a rate of four systems per fleet should we only take half of the fleets from the system. Simulations show that any one of our fleets can win an engagement with a native fleet of equal tonnage with acceptable losses."

"Define acceptable." Revan said, his attention on the newest member of his Council.

"12% should they stand by their standard weapons, increased to 47% should they decide to ram our ships at FTL at a rate of one-point-five of their capital ships, or ships of equal tonnage, to one of ours."

"I must ask," Jadus said, holding up a hand to stall Grievous' words. The Kaleesh cyborg's head spun sharply to look at him before half-nodding in recognition. "For a scientist, you are rather… familiar with military tactics, both large and small, and your knowledge of our fleet positions is rather excessive." The unasked question hung in the air for a moment before Grievous acknowledged it.

"I had originally intended to apprentice myself to Lord Silthar," He stated, raising an organic hand towards said Lord. "Unfortunately, my accident during the War Games caused a… delay in those, and my entire plan was scrapped when Lord Acharon… claimed me for his experiments." He looked at his robotic hands while Silthar shifted in his seat, thinking that it might have been his death that brought Grievous to the table and not Acharon's. "Obviously, I have not lost my fascination with strategies, and have kept tabs on the fleets' movements. I believe my estimations to be approximately correct, are they not?" His question was directed to Marr, who sat on his right.

"I'm happy to say that they were quite far off the mark, actually." Marr said with a wide grin. "The fleets around Pandora are, in fact, four times stronger than you estimated, though that information cannot leave this chamber except by Revan's, Jadus', or my own hands. Pandora's true strength shall remain secret until either it or Lehon itself come under fire."

Grievous released his clenched, organic hand and chuckled, a hollow, metallic chuckle. "Ingenious, to hide the true strength of the Empire out of sight, in the shadows, yet acknowledge the existence of only a small portion of it, enough to satisfy the curious, but not enough to show its true strength."

"Yes, and that is the way it shall stay." Jadus said.

"However, your plan has merit and should be followed, but only your original number of ten fleets shall be removed from Pandora for the monitoring of the surrounding systems." Silthar said, moving along the meeting. "The rest of the ships can come from the Star Forge, while the listening posts can be constructed at the new shipyards in the Nautolans' system. New Anselm, I believe."

"I would like one of Deep Thought's 'Basestars' built there as well," Marr chimed in, pressing the palms of his hands together in thought. "We need to understand what the maximum capacity for the shipyards is before we open them for public use."

"It can also introduce the public to our new capital ships as well, in case we need to show Pandora's fleets." Jadus nodded along.

"And increasing the monitored systems per fleet from four to five can cut down the time required for construction from a few months to a few weeks." Silthar completed.

"Then we are in agreement," Revan said, grinning wide behind his mask. "Our surrounding systems shall be secured in three weeks and we move to assist the Council races in four. Canderous, will your preparations be complete by then?"

"The standing army will be enough, but I'll have the reserves' training frequency doubled in case they're needed." Canderous said, "I'll lead the army myself."

"Then our plans are set, the assaulting fleets shall leave from this system in four weeks." Revan declared. "Silthar, I'll trust you can complete your strategies by then." At the nods from the relevant Lords, Revan dismissed his Council.

* * *

Turian colony world Gothis

The Turian operating the sensor array aboard the Gothic Might immediately flagged his superior when the previously unused Gate began to spin up. The captain of the ship, and fleet commander, Maxilius Melnus immediately ordered the fleet to red alert. Immediately, weapons began to power up while shields charged to combat status. By the time whatever it was made it through the Gate, an additional fifteen wings of fighters would join the three already on rotation.

When the first ship appeared, it raised some eyebrows, and some questions.

Looking completely unlike any other Turian vessel, the 125-meter frigate-class vessel almost began burning away from the Gate, completely disregarding the fleet it would soon come in range of. Maxilius nodded to communications to open a channel.

"Unidentified craft, this is the Gothic Might, flagship of the Gothis Defense Fleet. State your name and purpose in this sector."

The crew waited tensely for a full thirty seconds before the commander ordered fighters to get behind it and disable its engines. However, as they began to close to within five thousand kilometers, the vessel sent a reply, though its message made no sense.

"Sir, the message is in another language. It is possible it is a code of some kind, but doubtful."

"Send it to me."

The message played from his OmniTool, a light, staccato voice spoke nonsense, though it was obviously a message of some kind. It spoke with many pauses, and seemed to speak in sharp, pointed fragments.

"I want all fighters to form a path in front of that vessel, direct it to three thousand meters in front of the Gothic Might, in line of our main cannon. If it alters path, disable the engines." Almost as an afterthought, the captain added, "and send word to Gothis, we might have first contact."

The fighters responded immediately upon hearing the command, each wing forming a pentagon one hundred meters in front of the next, with the last wing three hundred meters in front of the alien frigate. Luckily, its captain seemed to understand and altered course to follow the fighters to the designated spot. It stopped and floated quietly before both ships' communication systems began sending information with a vengeance, gigabytes of data passed between ships every second, trying to understand the others' language.

"Sir, the Gate is activating again." Came the call from sensors.

"Progress on language?"

"It's a decent enough start. Another hour or so and we should have enough to start real communications." Comms replied.

Captain Melnus considered his options. They had made no move to power weapons, but had rotated their ship to point parallel to his own, their bow towards the Gate.

"The unknown poses no threat currently, focus on what comes through the Gate."

What came through, however, was something from out of his worst nightmares. A mere four ships emerged that outclassed his entire line of eight frigates and three cruisers. They formed a Y shape, with two identical 600-meter ships at the front, an 800-meter ship at the back, and a 1,000-meter dreadnaught in the middle. Upon exiting the Gate, the two ships in the middle and the back began to dump fighters into the void like they were abandoning ship. Finally, the ships began to slow and stop when they were a mere thousand kilometers out from the line. More than a hundred and fifty fighters filled the space between the two front cruisers, with what looked like heavier fighters, bombers he assumed, launching from the rear-most ship.

Once more, Maxilius sent out his message to identify and once more a message was sent back that lacked any Turian words. However, this time the new ships seemed to be communicating with the older ship. They were on an open channel, but their words still made no sense.

"Comms, make doubly sure you're recording everything they're saying. We'll need to know what they're talking about later." Maxilius ordered, receiving the acknowledgement from comms before moving on. "And order the others to prepare weapons, but don't power them. I want our weapon systems as surprising as possible."

The two parties stopped communicating, however, and the fighters began to streak towards the first ship, which began to throw up shields and power weapons. However, it was obviously outclassed by the two forward ships, which began to unleash their weaponry almost instantaneously.

"Sir, they've begun to engage each other and- Spirits, they have energy weapons!" The ensign at the Sensors station was beginning to panic, and it showed. No Turian force had managed to successfully field an energy weapon before, and to fit even one functioning frigate with even the cheapest prototypes would take a budget far beyond any single faction's capabilities. Maxilius responded quickly.

"Helm, hold our position. I want all weapons powered up, and fighters fall back to the 1k mark. Anything crossing 1.5k gets blown to dust."

However, the pilots in the fighters were obviously well trained, as they streaked close to the frigate, laser blasts concentrating on specific areas where what appeared to be laser point-defense turrets, similar to the ones used by the Hierarchy, were firing back and destroying dozens of fighters. Ultimately, the fighters proved too much, and the last of the point-defense turrets were destroyed as the bombers came into range, unleashing bright blue balls of energy at the frigate, exploding into lightning bolts upon contact.

"Sir, the frigate is no longer receiving or transmitting data. All major power signatures are gone." Comms was really not holding it together well, the fear obvious in his voice.

"Hold steady, see if-"

"Sir, the shots from the forward cruisers are impacting now. No effect." More blue balls of energy were impacting the ship, sparkling apart in the same fashion as the bombers', but not causing any more damage to the ship. In fact, the only way to tell the ship was damaged was by the scorch marks cause by the fighters and the occasional spark that hopped across the hull.

"Sir, incoming hail from the dreadnaught. It's speaking in Turian, sir."

"Of course it is." He muttered. "Patch it through."

The expressionless face of a mask appeared on his Omni-Tool, however he quickly learned that it was not, in fact, a mask.

"Greetings, Commander, I am PX-72, Protocol droid for the Sith Basestar Hive. You may call me Pax. We apologize for this unseemly introduction, but not fortunately the ship you see before you is carrying spies, and it is this group of ships' responsibility to bring them in for a trial. We will collect them and be on our way shortly. However, should you be interested in opening diplomatic channels with the Sith Empire, you can petition one of the Sith Lords in the Lehon system. Please avoid bringing more than three ships, as heavily armed groups tend to attract hostile responses from the Lords. That is all, and please have a nice day."

Coordinates appeared on his Omni-Tool to replace the sight of the droid, which had spoken so rapidly and succinctly, in near flawless Turian, that Commander Maxilius was reminded of the politicians back on Palaven. And the droid had cut off the connection so quickly that he had been unable to get a word in edgewise. And against the sheer overkill he had just witnessed, he knew his fleet, though more numerous, would get slaughtered.

As the two cruisers at the front approached and began to pull the frigate with tractor beams – 'Tractor beams!' he thought incredulously – to the 800-meter carrier which promptly swallowed it whole, all he could do was order Comms to send word to Palaven and the other rebels. This civil war needed to end. Now.

* * *

 **Codex:**

 **The Dark Council of the Sith Empire.**

 **Twelve sentients sit on the Council, each responsible for one sphere of influence in ruling the Empire. In addition, each has a planet or system which they mold to their purpose, though whether the inhabitants are aware or not is dependent on the Sith Lord who has laid the claim.**

 **Ancient Knowledge – Lord Zavakon**

 **Biotic Science – Lord** **Acharon** **Grievous**

 **Defense of the Empire – Lord Marr**

 **Expansion and Diplomacy – Lord Jyggalag**

 **Imperial Intelligence – Lord Jadus**

 **Laws and Justice – Lord Mortis**

 **Military Offense – Te Taylir Mand'alor**

 **Military Strategy – Lord Silthar**

 **Mysteries – Lord Nox**

 **Production and Logistics – Lord Vowrawn**

 **Sith Philosophy – Lord Aruk**

 **Technology – Lord Malgus**

 **Basestars:**

Use in Combat – Intended to replace the Harrower as the carrier of the Droid Army, Basestars were created by Deep Thought during its initial R&D phase and are incapable of carrying organic life outside of their cargo holds. At 1,000 meters long, the Basestar is capable of deploying all 62 fighter squadrons and 13 bomber squadrons within minutes, and features over 200 independently-firing concussion missile launchers, 25 heavy turbolaser batteries, and 500 point-defense turrets. While equally capable as any other kilometer-long ship, assuming it keeps its fighter complement, the Basestar focuses on battlefield control, often filling spaces with missiles and heavy turbolaser shots to force fighters and dreadnaughts alike into or away from certain areas. Basestars can also be linked to other Basestars to drastically improve battlefield awareness as well as accuracy. However, should even one Basestar be suddenly destroyed while linked to the others, the electronic backlash can reset entire systems on other Basestars, from engines to shields to weapons. It carries over 10,000 droid infantry and hundreds of vehicles ranging from speeders to heavy walkers.

 **Vulture Droids:**

Created by Deep Thought, the Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Droid Mk 1 is a fully autonomous fighter designed to be attached to the outside of a Basestar rather than needing to be stored within. While each fighter can be fully autonomous, in space combat that option is usually overridden and the fighters are instead linked directly to their home Basestar, which drastically improves overall fighter usefulness. However, should the home Basestar be destroyed, all fighters linked to it will fly erratically until linked to another Basestar, a process that takes several minutes.

In planetary battles, however, the Vulture, in addition to being autonomous, can land and assume a walker form. Balancing on its four "wings," the Vulture can move and fire down into enemy trenches, but is still vulnerable to anything heavier than light weaponry.

 **Hyena Droids:**

The Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Droid Mk II functions primarily as a bomber, and was originally merely a field-modified Mk I until its adoption by Imperial Weaponry Inc. Equipped with only a proton-torpedo launcher, Hyenas lack any ship-to-ship combat abilities and must be protected by fighters, usually Vulture Droids.

Hyenas also have a walker form; however, they focus on long-range support rather than direct firefights. The Hyena's four "wings" dig into the ground for stabilization while the proton torpedo launcher folds out into long-range artillery.

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 **A/N: So, who remembers when I planned to write a chapter a week or some lie like that... oops?**


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